Nigerian Government inaugurates committee to combat flood disaster
By, Hikmat Bamigboye
Nigerian Government has set up about forty-five Presidential Committee to Develop the Comprehensive Plan of Action for preventing flood disaster in the country.
Inaugurating the committee in Abuja, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu tasked the committee to proffer solutions to prevent future flood disasters in the country.
According to the Minister, it was no longer news that the recent 2022 floods had thrown several communities into hardship, submerged homes and destroyed properties estimated at billions of naira.
The Minister noted that flooding incidences in Nigeria had been caused mainly by overflow of silted rivers and poor drainage systems from localised rainfalls, generating flash flooding in urban areas.
“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”. Adamu said
“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.”He added
In his remarks, Anambra State Deputy Governor, Dr Onyekachi Ibezim, said that the State government was deliberating on using excess water from flooding for hydropower generation, adding that the sett up of the committee was timely.
He added that his state had suffered huge losses from the 2022 floods, as it affected one-third of its local Government areas.
Also speaking at the event, Minister of Environment, Dr Hassan Abdullahi, said that human activities had caused flooding, he affirmed the need for States to adhere early warning signals.
Mr Abdullahi urged States that building permits be strictly enforced by the governments to end the practice of building indiscriminately on the flood plains.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, stressed that the impact of climate change on humans and the environment had been predicted to get worse in coming years, following the rise in global temperature.
Mr Ehanire asserted that the committee must give solutions for health promotion and disease prevention because flooding effects on the health sector could result in an increase in water-borne illnesses.
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 State Governments.
The Technical Working Group included: Directors-General of National Water Resources Institute, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, representatives of Nigerian Society of Engineers and Nigerian Academy of Engineering, among others.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had mandated the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, to fashion out ways of preventing flood disaster in Nigeria within 90 days.
