By Fatima Saka
As the Nigerian Meteorological Agency of Nigerians forecast the next wet season in order for proper mitigation by Nigerians, the governments of Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states have said they would put adequate machinery in place to mitigate flooding ahead of the 2023 rainy season.
The governments of the three states disclosed at the weekend in Delta that despite challenges that the states are facing, they were prepared and had put machinery in place to control expected flooding ahead of the rainy season.
The Delta State government said it had taken proactive steps in the monitoring of flood-prone communities to ascertain the level of water ahead of the rainy season.
Also, the state Commissioner for Environment, Godspower Asiuwhu, said the governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, had directed that flood-prone communities should be monitored to ascertain the level of water.
The state is already putting some preparatory measures in place to control the flooding as the rainy season draws closer, Mr Asiuwhu said.
According to him, the Ministry of Environment has started organizing town hall meetings with local government council chairmen to brainstorm on how to manage the effects of flooding during the rainy season in their communities.
Meanwhile, In Edo, Evelyn Henry, information Officer in the state Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, said the government had begun desilting of water channels and excavation of moats in the state.
Ms Henry said it was Governor Godwin Obasekis avowed commitment to tackle flood-related issues in the state that made him recently inaugurate the Edo State Flood Erosion Watershed Management Agency (FEWMA) to tackle flood and gully erosion issues in the state.
She said the agency was established to sustain the gains recorded by the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) in the state.
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The same commitment is displayed in Bayelsa, where relevant government agencies have started opening up canals such as Epie Creek, and Tailor Creek amongst others, as part of flood control measures in the state.
An official of the Ministry of Environment, disclosed that the Bayelsa government had also begun to put other flood control measures in place ahead of the rainy season.
The official said that it would require collaboration between the federal government and the state to address the huge natural phenomenon in the South-South region, especially in the riverine areas.
Another senior government official said the state government had taken further proactive steps to inaugurate the Flood Disaster Management Board to carry out sensitisation of the people on the best possible measures to prevent and control flooding.
“On ecological funds, officials of the three states, who could not disclose enough information, urged the federal government to be more transparent in the disbursement and utilization of the funds”.
Also, the Bayelsa government official, the ecological fund was an intervention by the federal government of Nigeria to address flood, erosion and other ecological challenges in various communities across the country.
But here in Bayelsa, we only get to read about it in the news without a corresponding physical effect in this state, said the official.
The Chairman of the committee, Ibrahim Isiaka, had frowned at the absence of the majority of the states, Ministries Departments and Agencies of the federal government, invited to appear before it to explain their involvement in the disbursement of the fund.
In addition, Isiaka said the committee would recover the fund, pump it back into the main ecological account and ensure proper usage.
“Investigation, however, shows that the only semblance of information about the ecological funds in these states was a referenced statement credited to the House of Representatives Committee on Ecological Fund in December 2022.
“This was during the committees probe into the utilization of ecological funds for the past 10 years,” he added.
