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*Reveals Ebonyi not among 10 worst hit states
*Claims ignorance of USAID’s $1m donation to victims
*Says enforcement of evacuation warnings to be considered in the future
*Govt mulls compensation for owners of destroyed farms
*FG inaugurates committee on flood prevention, disaster management
*Sylva calls for collective action, permanent solution to flooding
Deji Elumoye, Folalumi Alaran in Abuja and Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa
The federal government yesterday gave an update on the recent flood disaster that wreaked havoc across the country and categorised Jigawa, Anambra and Kogi as states most hit in terms of deaths and other calamities.
Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, made this known while speaking with newsmen at the State House, Abuja.
This was just as the federal government yesterday inaugurated a Technical Working Group and Steering Committee on the management of floods and disasters in Nigeria.
Also yesterday, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said both the federal and state governments must collectively find a permanent solution to the perennial flooding in the country and stop playing politics with people’s lives.
According to an official statistical chart from the Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Ministry, the number of deaths recorded per state, number of people displaced, number of injuries, houses damaged, farm lands per hectares damaged, as well as general population affected, were some of the factors used in assessing the states affected most.
In the 2022 flood data obtained from officials of the ministry, as at 24th October, the death toll in Jigawa stood at 91, while it was 77 in Anambra, in Kogi 471,991 persons were affected, with no death record.
The data also disclosed that 3,219,780 Nigerians have been affected nationwide, while number of displaced persons stood at 1,427,370, with total number of recorded dead put at 612.
Farouq disclosed that contrary to insinuation in some quarters, Bayelsa State did not fall into the category of 10 worst hit states by the flood disaster.
Her words: “It will also interest you to know that Bayelsa is not even among the 10 most hit. I think Jigawa is number one and we have taken intervention to Bayelsa and it’s still ongoing. We’re using the Nigerian Air Force to access the inaccessible areas.
“These are natural disasters, we just hope and pray that we don’t see that again. It is a global phenomenon and the government is up and doing in this regard”.
Reacting to the varying levels of impact the flood has had on the states, recent misgivings expressed by key figures from some parts of the country about federal government’s response, especially by Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, Farouq said the ministry had been working with states to convey relief.
According to her, 28 states and the FCT, have received relief of food and non-food items from the federal government while 44 temporary shelters have been erected in 22 states and 22,000 metric tonnes of grains are being distributed to victims nationwide.
“I’ve mentioned that we have officers in all the states and they are supporting the states officials to give support to these victims, where it is possible for us to visit, we have visited, but the most important thing is the response which we have given; a very quickly response for the states affected.
“We have a plan in place – a flood emergency preparedness plan, it is in place and the FG has a role to play in this and we have started operationalising that plan. That plan has just been approved by federal executive council in September this year.
“Let me use this opportunity to extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. Lives have been lost, very unfortunate. There were early warnings and hence, early actions by all; the national sub nationals and even individuals that were prone to this disaster.
“We have erected temporary shelters, about 44 of them in 22 states, some people moved to those shelters, while others did not, very unfortunate and I think at this point, I quite agree that there should be enforcement going forward.
“We’ve mentioned 12,000 metric tons that was given to us by Ministry of Agriculture, but that is in addition to other interventions, it’s not just the 12,000 metric tons. If you look at it, I didn’t mention rice and other food items and even non-food items that we have provided. So it’s not just the 12,000 metric tons that was provided.
“How much we will need, that will also be after the assessment, I cannot really say how much federal government… and the people, the real people that are affected are going to be the real people that will be provided the support because we have on the spot assessment,” she added.
On the United States donation of $1 million support to Nigeria for flood victims, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Farouq said she was not aware of any pledge or donation to that effect.
The US Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard was said to have mentioned that $1 million donation was coming to the state to assist the flood victims.
The US envoy had said the donation provided through the USAID would allow local partners on the ground to provide emergency shelter assistance, relief commodities, and hygiene kits to promote safe and healthy practices, adding that it would also curb cholera outbreak and multipurpose cash assistance for people impacted by the devastating floods.
But the minister said she did not know where the information came from as no such money had come to her ministry.
“We have not received one dollar as a ministry from any organisation. I am not aware of this and it has not come to me officially,” she said.
Responding to Pa Clark’s comment about her, as Minister of Humanitarian Affair not being humane, Farouq said “you mentioned this issue of the Humanitarian Minister not being humane, this is a natural issue that we are facing and I think, with every sense of responsibility, I’m carrying out my duties to the best of my abilities, the best I can in service to this nation and in service to humanity and I think by mere looking at me, you know I’m humane.”
The minister said government would consider enforcement of evacuation advice in the future for people living around river banks and flood prone areas to avert loss of lives from flood disaster.
She explained that although there were early projections and warnings from NIMET and relevant agencies, majority of those to whom these were directed refused to respond, saying this is why government would consider the enforcement measure option.
“We are working with the local authorities, with the affected communities to gather this data of the affected persons. So I want to believe, I’m optimistic, that these targeted beneficiaries will be the ones that will be given these interventions.
“Yes, enforcement is very key and I think going forward that is what should be done so that it shouldn’t be a matter of choice for one to be evacuated. It shouldn’t be, really, because we are talking about human lives here. That will have to be done.
“We have, as I mentioned, evacuated those that agreed to be evacuated. Some people feel these are their ancestral places and so they do not want to live, or they will not live and then they face the consequences, but we hope that next time people will heed these early warnings and then will heed to the evacuation programme,” she said.
Farouq also stated that farmers who lost farmlands due to the flood disaster are to get compensation from the federal government at the end of a comprehensive impact assessment by the National Food Security Council, to ensure food security in the country next year.
According to her: “You may recall that we have a Presidential Committee on Food Security. Now, we are doing the assessments of those farmlands that are destroyed and we’ll submit our report to the food security council, which is being chaired by His Excellency, Mr. President, and the vice chair is His Excellency, the Governor of Kebbi State.
“Once that is done, we’ll know the next step to take, but definitely, farmers will be compensated and that lost means of livelihoods is also to be compensated accordingly. We the intervention we hope is coming very soon, the dry season farming is going to cushion that and very optimistic about that. We don’t hope for food shortage.”
Meanwhile, the federal government has inaugurated a
Technical Working Group and Steering Committee on the management of floods and disasters in Nigeria.
The Chairman of the Committee and Minister of Water Resources, Sulieman Adamu who spoke in Abuja, said in accordance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive, he would coordinate teams from the relevant federal ministries, agencies and state governments to create action plans for preventing floods and disasters in Nigeria within 90 days.
Adamu said it was no longer news that the recent floods across the country devastated properties worth billions of naira, put several communities through difficulties, inundated residences in over 34 states, and caused severe hardship in various communities.
He said, “The members of the Presidential Committee being inaugurated today are seasoned professionals and bureaucrats who have been selected from across the MDAs, states and professional organisations.
“You have been adjudged to have in one way or the other contributed immensely to the water resources, environmental, agricultural and other sectors of the country.
“I urge you, therefore, to consider your nomination to membership of this committee as a privilege and another opportunity to serve and contribute towards safeguarding the lives and well-being of our fellow citizens that otherwise would be vulnerable to the devastating effects of flood in the future.”
In his remarks, the Deputy Governor of
Anambra State, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim lamented that his state had suffered huge losses from the 2022 floods, as it affected a third of its local government areas.
He added that the formation of the committee came in good time, saying the state government was deliberating on using excess water from flooding for hydropower generation.
On his part, the Minister of Environment, Dr. Hassan Abdullahi, said flooding was a result of human activity and urged states to heed early warning signs.
He advised that building permits be strictly enforced by the governments to end the practice of building indiscriminately on flood planes.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, also spoke, noting that the rise in global temperatures had led to predictions that the effects of climate change on people and the environment would worsen over the next years.
The steering committee members included Ministers of Health; Environment; Agriculture and Rural Development; Transport, Works and Housing; Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as well as their respective permanent secretaries.
Others were representatives of Jigawa, Adamawa, Anambra, Ogun, Bayelsa and Kogi states.
The Technical Working Group included Directors-General of National Water Resources Institute, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, representatives of Nigerian Society of Engineers and the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, among others.
In the meantime, Sylva has said both federal and state governments must collectively find a permanent solution to the perennial flooding in the country and stop playing politics with people’s lives.
The minister who was in Bayelsa to see the extend of damages caused by the flood in the state and also commiserate with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), described the level of destruction caused by the rampaging flood as unimaginable and unbelievable.
The Bayelsa former governor who was accompanied by the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Management and Development Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote, directed the board to present palliatives items to the IDPs in the state.
The minister visited the failed portions of the East-West road at Okogbe and the Yenagoa-Ammasoma road, which was completely devastated, said the devastation was total.
He also visited the IDP camps at Igbogene and Ox-bow lake, where food items, medicine and other palliatives were given to the IDPs with a promise to bring more.
“The devastation is unbelievable, but of course as you know, we stand with the people, I have come all the way from Abuja with a message from the Federal Executive Council, we have given a directive to the NDDC and the Niger Delta Ministry to ensure that the repairs of this road is completed expeditiously.
“But this of course is beyond what we are talking about because this happens every year, as we stand here we know that the water is receding but the water will come back in a matter of few months, next year, we must look for some kind of solution to this problem which has bedeviled us every year.
“We have to work together as a people and leave our political differences, we are not here to campaign, this is not about any campaign, this is about Nigeria and the wellbeing of Nigerians and that is why we have come here and the FEC has directly taken steps to ensure this devastation that we see here is ameliorated as weekly as possible.
“But going beyond that we must find a permanent and lasting solution to this problem and this we can only do as a people together not minding our political differences.
Every year at a certain time we are faced with this same flood, unfortunately we have not found a lasting solution to this problem, why we are doing so, we also take cognisant of the fact that people are suffering.
“As I came here, what I have seen with my own eyes is very bad, the condition of our people is absolutely deplorable, we should not always politicise everything, this is beyond politics.
“When the flood comes, it doesn’t know the house of an APC or PDP man, so as Bayelsans we must come together and solve this problem. The federal government has also taken note of this situation, yesterday at the Federal Executive Council we discussed the issue of flood and the Federal Executive Council approved the immediate rehabilitation of the East West Road.
“I myself I am here today in the company with the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, I have directed the NCDMB to ensure that they are able to give you materials, food items and medicine
“I have come here with the support of the Executive Secretary of NCDMB in partner to put together some items to alleviate the immediate problem.”
Items donated by the NCDMB included 750 bags of Rice, 1000 cartoons of tin tomatoes, 1050 cartoons of tin tomatoes, 750 cartons of knorr cubs, 750 gallons of groundnut oil, 1100 bags of sugar, 750 bags of salt, 375 Jerry cans of palm oil, 800 bags of garri and 700 treated mosquitoes net.
