Emergency Agency, Oyo State Distributes Relief Materials to Flood Victims 

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in collaboration with the Oyo State Government, has distributed relief materials worth millions of naira to the vulnerable and the victims of the 2022 flood disaster in the state, to ameliorate their suffering.

The flag-off of the distribution of relief materials to the chairmen and chairpersons of the 33 Local Government Areas and the 35 Local Council Development Areas in the state for onward distribution to the vulnerable citizens, took place at the state Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, the state capital.

During the flag-off, the representative of the Director General of NEMA, Olarenwaju Kazeem, who identified inadequate data as a challenge in the distribution of relief materials, appealed to the Oyo State Government to create a local emergency committee that would provide data on the level of damages at the local level, in order to have real disaster management at the local level.

Kazeem stated: “Disaster management is everybody’s business and we know that when it happens, it happens at the local level. Disaster has no respect for anybody. When it happens it affects all of us. Most times, when we go out for assessment, we discover that at the local level, we don’t have data but if we can do the same thing that we did there and here I know that we will not be left behind and will benefit from the federal government.”

On his part, the Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Task Force on the Oyo State Emergency Management Agency (OYSEMA), Bayo Lawal, disclosed that the state government was guided by a community-based approach and grassroots focus in the distribution of the food and non-food items as relief packages, in responding to the needs of the teeming populace who had been traumatised by the prevailing flood hazards in their communities.

Lawal said; that the present administration in the state was committed to the effective operation of the state Emergency Management Agency (OYSEMA) to boost the resilience of the state to disaster risks, noting that Governor Seyi Makinde had approved the procurement of two new Hilux vehicles for the smooth operation of the agency.

The deputy governor, while lauding the collaborative efforts of NEMA with the state government, urged the local government chairmen and chairpersons to judiciously and immediately distribute the materials to the vulnerable and the flood victims, to alleviate their suffering.

He said: “My candid advice to the good citizens of Oyo State is to be conscious and vigilant of the changing climate condition in our environment. The climate change scenario presently triggers excessive rainfall, rainstorm and heatwaves, among other disasters. The impacts are felt in terms of food insecurity, damages, losses and health challenges. It is therefore expedient that our society should discourage indiscriminate dumping of refuse, building on waterways and arbitrary felling of trees.”

In the same vein, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Olasukanmi Olaleye, appreciated the government’s efforts at bringing succor to the flood victims, challenging the local government chairmen and chairpersons to pay special attention to the distribution of the items with a view to giving them to the real victims of the disaster.

In his welcoming address, the Secretary of OYSEMA, Femi Opatumbi, said the event was borne out of the decisive, timely response and collective will of the present administration in the state to always cater to the welfare of the citizenry.

The relief materials handed over to the local government chairmen and chairpersons included food items such as rice, garri, sorghum, groundnut oil, mats and clothes.

The event had in attendance, the state deputy governor elected local government chairmen and chairpersons; the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters; traditional rulers from Ibadan, Oke Ogun and Ogbomoso and representatives of NEMA, among others.

Olusola Akintonde