FG ASSURES NIGERIANS ON FLOOD CONTROL, MAY DREDGE RIVER NIGER
The Federal Government says it is looking at all options to control flooding and mitigate its impact on the lives and properties of citizens and the economy.
The Honourable Minister of Environment, Dr. Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar made this known while declaring open the 14th National Stakeholders’ Forum organized by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, with the theme, Flood Disasters in Nigeria: An Imperative for Environmental Governance.”
The Minister said, “The Federal Government is very concerned about flooding. It is very serious, a menace. It destroys property, takes lives, causes agricultural setback. This year unfortunately, a lot of farmers have lost their farmlands due to flooding.”
As a step towards checkmating the impact of flood, he disclosed that, “there is a memo that I will be presenting to the National Economic Council on flood control including the possibility or not of dredging the River Niger.”
He also added that the Federal Government was working with all stakeholders to ensure that the issues of flooding are discussed extensively and solutions are proffered, stating that the National Stakeholders’ Forum would give the needed opportunity for more stakeholders’ discussion on flooding.
In her Keynote address, the Honourable Minister of State for Environment, Bar. Sharon Ikeazor noted that, the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria was hampered by flooding which impacts negatively on some of the targets such as, “No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well Being, Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Sustainable Cities and Communities as well as Life on Land.”
Bar. Ikeazor who spoke through the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics in the Ministry, Mr. Jonah Stanley, called on all key stakeholders to play their roles in curbing the menace of flooding.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA, Prof Aliyu Jauro said with her amended Establishment Act, NESREA was set to begin the implementation of National Regulations which will help control the incidences of flooding in the country.
Prof Jauro further stated that the Agency had already begun Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement of the Regulations and was carrying environmental awareness activities on flooding all over the country through town hall meetings, road shows, visitations to markets, schools and worship centers.
In attendance at the Forum were the Minister of Environment, Dr. Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar; Minister of State for Environment, represented by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr. Jonah Stanley; Chairman Governing Council of NESREA, Barr. Iyiola Oladokun; Director General of NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro; Director General, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Prof. M.T Ladan; and Chairman of the Forum, Her Excellency, Dr. Laraba Abdullahi.