As floods continue to threaten communities in Nigeria’s coastal region, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has inaugurated an inter-agency committee to assess and anticipate the impact of flooding and ensure early response strategies.
The committee includes agencies and departments under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, and the Ministry of Environment.
Also in the committee are the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Nigeria Meteorological Agency, NIMET, Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA, and the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.
The Niger Delta Minister reiterated the flood alert issued by the NIHSA which predicted that about 114 local government areas across the nine states of the Niger Delta region will be badly affected by floods between September and October.
“We have already witnessed a few rainfalls this year, one in Gwagwalada where about four persons were swept away by the flood and there was another one in a suburb of Abuja. In the Niger Delta, we normally have very serious flood challenges, particularly in the riverine areas. So I am happy with the Meteorological Agency and its predictions, which have prompted this emergency committee.”
Akpabio noted that due to its close proximity to water bodies and the high level of rainfalls witnessed yearly in the Niger Delta, the region has been prone to flood disasters which has sacked and displaced communities and farmlands
“Over the years, the Niger Delta region has witnessed varying degrees of environmental challenges that have had tremendous negative impact on not only the psyche of the people of the region, but also of the Nation as a whole. One of these environmental challenges that has assumed annual occurrence is the seasonal flooding of the area with its catastrophic consequences,” Akpabio said.
Apart from assessing the anticipated impact of the 2020 seasonal rainfall prediction in the Niger Delta region, the committee is expected to work with the states to ramp up their level of preparedness, assess human displacement management plans and identify locations for possible IDP Camps in the region in the event of flooding.”
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Also speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, stressed that the committee must liaise with the state governments if it must achieve its goal.
The committee is chaired by Engr Mbie Onyeachonam, who the Director of Environmental Management in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs
Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe
