TheCable

President Bola Tinubu has set up a committee to come up with an immediate plan of action to mitigate the impact of flooding on Nigerians. 

The president made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday by Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the president on media. 

Tinubu who is represented on the committee by Kashim Shettima, the vice-president, appointed Yahaya Bello, Kogi state governor, as chairman of the committee and Akon Eyakenyi, deputy governor of Akwa Ibom state, as the vice-chairman.

The committee is tasked with producing a flood prevention roadmap by harmonising the recent national economic council (NEC) report on flood, the 2022 national flood emergency preparedness and response plan, as well as other national reports on flood. 

The committee is expected to submit its recommendations and action plan in seven days. 

Shettima, who encouraged the committee to be proactive rather than reactive, said the country cannot afford to take chances any longer.

He added that the responsibilities would be shouldered by the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the federal government across different geopolitical zones.

“Based on the submissions by the DG of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, the situation is not that terrible but to be forewarned is to be forearmed,” Shettima said. 

“The submissions by the other relevant stakeholders are equally poignant and we can’t afford to take chances.

“Though the situation is not as bad as we might think, we need to set up a committee so that the report of the presidential committee and the 2022 federal executive council-approved broad preparedness plan should be harmonised and  implemented immediately.

“I deliberately invited the NEDC and NDDC so that with whatever resources that NEMA has, they have to be released to the states so that they can start making preparations for any eventuality. 

“Based on the presidential directive, I will meet with the chief executives of the NEDC and NDDC for states that are under their coverage.

“There should be interventions from them. For NEDC they can take care of Taraba, Bauchi and Adamawa. For NDDC, they can take care of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Cross River. 

“For states like Ebonyi, Kogi and Benue, we will mobilise from our savings and deploy the same to assist them. We have to share responsibilities and hence the immediate need for the roadmap to be implemented.”

The opening of Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam leads to flooding in Nigeria annually.

This year, the release of water from the dam has led to the flooding of Nigerian communities, the death of 28 persons and displacement of 48,168 others.