Flooding: Niger state commences house-to-house sensitisation campaign 

The Niger state Government says it has commenced a house-to-house sensitization programme to avert flooding and has also embarked on flood preventive measures across the state. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Environment and Forestry, Dr. Lucky Barau, disclosed this to the newsmen on Friday in Minna.

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The Permanent Secretary said: “The issue of flash flooding has become an occurrence decimal in Niger State, owing to the fact that the state is geographically located on a flood plain, making it susceptible to flooding during wet seasons”.

Dr. Barau said that going by this, the forecast by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency this year, revealed that there would be early rain, accompanied by flooding may surpass the flooding of 2022 in the state. NiMet had predicted in January that 2023 would witness early onset of rainfall, accompanied by flooding.

He said that the government, through the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency, was doing everything possible to protect residents and their property from the impending flooding.

“Right now we are trying to remove debris and all other materials that clogged drainage systems, culverts and bridges across the state. This measure will ensure the free flow of water. We are also doing house-to-house sensitisation to make the people realise that the job of flood prevention is not government’s obligation alone but for all stakeholders, including the residents,” he said.

Also, the permanent secretary explained that the measure would ensure that where government efforts were lacking, the people would provide drainage to evacuate water from their environment to prevent flooding.

Dr. Barau further added that the government had provided designated spots in the state for refuse disposal dumps and for easy evacuation, instead of dumping them in drains, thereby blocking them and eventually resulting in flooding.

“We are appealing to residents of Niger State to stop dumping refuse into the drains to help us prevent flooding. Also, people who build on the waterways must stop, to enable water run off easily from our environment,” he said.

Dr. Barau however disclosed that the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has positioned environmental agents and sanitation vanguards in the 25 local government and urban areas across the state. According to him, the officials will move from house-to-house to sensitise the people on how to prevent flooding and refuse disposal for easy evacuation by NISEPA. “We will also visit the eight Emirate Councils in the state to sensitise the people to how best to protect their environment,” Dr. Barau added.

Wumi/NAN