Flood Alert: Senate Tasks FG On Timely Action

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi(middle), with Chairmen of opposition political parties in the State(Conference of Nigeria Political Parties) when they paid a solidarity visit to the Governor in Government House, Port Harcourt,last Friday.

The Nigerian Senate has expressed worry over the lacklustre attitude of the Federal Government towards preventing or containing the predicted 2013 flooding, which according to experts would be worse than that of last year.
The senate has also directed its committees on water resources, environment, marine transport and special duties, to find out the preparedness of the relevant ministries and agencies to contain the predicted heavy rainfall and impending flood.
The   committees are to investigate the real state of dams, canals and waterways in the country.
The lawmakers took the step following a motion sponsored by Senator Eta Enang and 39 others, titled, Emergency Preparedness for 2013 Flood and Rainfall Prediction: Urgent Need for Dredging and Desilting of the River Niger,Cross River,River Benue and other inland water ways in Nigeria.”
They condemned the seeming ill preparedness of the federal agencies involved, and tasked the Federal Government to be more proactive and ensure that the lives and properties of Nigerians were adequately protected this year.
Presenting the motion, Senator Enang reminded his colleagues of the predictions of Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) on an overwhelming Flooding in 2013.
Senator Enang narrated that going by NIMET predictions which are almost sure the country will witness 100 per cent increase in rain volume this year,meaning that if enough preventive measures were not put on ground,   more lives and properties would be lost this year.
He called for urgent dredging and desilting of River Niger, Cross River, River Benue and adequate preparations of dams and canals to ensure that what happened last year and even worse situations did not arise.
the senators regretted that after the last year flood, no tangible effort has been made towards preventive measures.
They argued that unless concerted efforts were made by the Federal and State Governments and relevant ministries, department and agencies statutorily charged with the responsibility of planning for and mitigating the effect of natural disasters, more casualties would be recorded this year.
Senators in their contributions pointed out that the relevant agencies both in the Federal, State and Local Government levels should be up and doing to ensure   clearing of obstructions along water routes, such as bridges and channels through which excess water can flow through the Benue and Niger river, to the confluence in Lokoja, subsequent transmission to the Atlantic Ocean are done in time to avoid obstruction.
Senator Abdul Ningi expressed worry that it was predicted that the floods would start in June- July and by May not much is seen on ground
Senator Smart Adeyemi observed the need for the Federal Government to allocate funds even from the nations reserves to take care of this urgent need and save lives of Nigerians.
President of the Senate, David Mark,in his remarks, expressed dissatisfaction over the indifferent attitude of the Federal Government towards taking appropriate measures early enough to forestall flood disaster and its attendant deaths in the country.
He recalled that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was overwhelmed by last year’s flood disaster, and noted that since NEMA was yet to be adequately equipped for the disaster, and dams across the country not maintained, more people may lose their lives and properties in this year’s flood.
His words “Our level of preparedness in this country is never good enough; we always take the fire brigade approach to everything which shows our inability to prepare for emergencies. Government should be proactive and take adequate measures so that when the flooding comes we will be adequately prepared.
“It will be overwhelming if the prediction comes to pass,NEMA was overstretched last year, and if we get warned and don’t do anything about it, then something is really wrong. We need to pray and at the same time back it up with action”.
The committees are to conduct public hearing on the said issues and report back to the Senate in two weeks.