Environment
Thousands Rendered Homeless As Storm Wrecks Havoc In Rivers
Tens of thousands of people were rendererd homeless while property worth millions of naira destroyed in Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas of Rivers State as rainstorm recently wrecked havoc in the two local government areas.
Sources informed The Tide that collosal damages were caused by the natural disaster in the areas.
The Tide also learnt that economic trees such as mangoes, oranges and others were also pulled down by the storm.
As at the time of filing this report more than 20 communities had been affected by the natural disaster in the areas.
According to eyewitness account, several buildings were either deroofed or pulled down by the storm across Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro local govermrnt areas.
Some of the communities affected in Andoni include Ngo, Oyorokoto, Ekede and Ikuru Town.
Also affected are Okoroboile, Chiekmoluk, Oboloiluk, Agbama, Otuokporo, Ebukumaija and Okoloile. Also, some fishing settlements along the Ikuru Town beach were also affected by the storm.
The Tide learnt that the storm deroofed some buildings at Opobo Town, and all its satellite communities including Minima, Okpukpo, Queenstown Epelema and others.
A resident of Obolo Iluk Mr Taibi Sunday told The Tide in a telephone interview that some economic trees were pulled down in the community.
Giving a break down of damages caused by the disaster in the area, Sunday said 21 houses were pulled down in Obolo Iluk, nine in Agbama , nine at Otuokporo and nine at Ebukumaija amongst others. local government Council and the State Government to come to their aide.
Also speaking Mr Ataisi lucky from Ekede lamented the level of destruction caused by the storm in the community.
He said it was the first time the community is suffering such large scale destruction by windstorm
Also at Ngo chief Adaiyibo Unyeawaji told the Tide via the telephone that his house was affected.
He said part of his roof was pulled out by the storm.
He said the situation has inflicted hardship on the people, adding that with the current high cost of building materials,it would be difficult for some of the affected persons to rebuild their houses.
He called on the government and public spirited individuals including non governmental organizations to come to their aide by assisting them with Zinc and other building materials.
At Ebukuma,Mr Emmanuel David Gogonte confirmed that his house was affected.
He said he lost more than fifty sheets of Zinc to the storm reacting to the incident in a telephone interview with The Tide ,The Executive Chairman of Andoni local Government Area Dr Erastus Awortu confirmed the incident adding that a team from the Council has been sent to assess the level of damages caused by the storm in all the Communities.
He said based on available information the situation is beyond the capacity of the Council to handle but added that the Council is working hard to rebuild the Corpers lodge destroyed by the storm at Ikuru Town.
By: John Bibor
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.