The Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), in the forthcoming 2023 general election Atiku Abubakar, has called on the federal government to set up an independent Flood Disaster Relief Fund that will provide succor to the victims of the floods in the country.
Atiku visited Yenagoa the Bayelsa State capital in Southern Nigeria to commiserate with and to have a personal experience of the devastation that victims of flooding across the country have been thrown into in the past few weeks.
The presidential flagbearer Atiku said the Independent Flood Disaster Relief Fund would serve as a national emergency relief fund, similar in scope to what was initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The scenes are horrendous and it speaks to the seriousness that we must accord to climate change. What I witnessed in Bayelsa is as disheartening as reports from other places; it is a story of human trauma under the spell of nature’s fury. Public infrastructure like roads and power lines have been swept away in a flash, and facilities like hospitals and schools are destroyed and remain unavailable”. Atiku said.
The former Nigerian Vice President noted that “Altogether across the country, it is reported that more than 600 lives have been lost, with more than 2 million people displaced. People who are lucky to survive these floods have lost their belongings, and need every ounce of help that they can get from the government, non-governmental charity institutions and private donors and called on his friends and associates in the corporate world and in private capacities to join in the cause of helping the Flood victims.’’
Atiku Abubakar also called on governments at all levels to activate measures to forestall the food shortages and further increment in the already high cost of food “There is no doubt that a large number of the victims are farmers. I also wish to make a plea for the establishment of a temporary fund for farmers to ameliorate their losses and give them capital for next year’s planting season”.
He further suggested that the federal government considers the release of grains from the nation’s Strategic Food Reserves and reviewing import policies to allow for the interim importation of food to make up for shortfalls in food production and to forestall the recurrences of such devastating levels of flooding, the government should build the critical infrastructure required to contain excess water along the banks of the Rivers Niger and Benue.
Atiku said if elected as President in the presidential elections next year, he is committing to completing the Dasin-Hausa Dam in Adamawa State to manage the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.
“I shall also commit to working with state governments like Bayelsa to build the required flood management infrastructure such as levees and dykes in key locations in the Niger and Benue Basins. The dredging of the rivers and estuaries through which inland waters empties into the sea will help in stemming flooding in the Niger Delta areas”.
In addition, Atiku said he will ensure the retooling of the nation’s disaster awareness apparatus, such as the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NIMET), and the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency, (NHSA), for a better weather forecast.
“The change in climate is a pointer to every human community to be circumspect in leadership recruitments. Climate change is a convergence between politics and nature. Leadership and policies must also change to deal with the dramatic changes we are witnessing around us. If we get our politics wrong by electing leaders who choose to play politics with climate change, and refuse to make necessary investments in smart solutions, we will be living in the relics of times past, unmindful of our attendant vulnerabilities. Climate change is real and its effects are both local and global”.
Atiku Abubakar while at the internally displaced person camp, where most of the flood victims are taking shelter, commiserated with them over the loss of lives and pray that the Almighty gives them the strength to overcome.
Atiku made a donation of Fifty Million Naira donation to the victims in Bayelsa State on behalf of himself and his friends.
Olusola Akintonde
