The Honorable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq has call on the Gombe State Government to be proactive in responding to flood disasters.
She disclosed this in a courtesy visit by the Executive Governor of Gombe State and his delegates to the Ministry.
According to the Minister,” Flood disaster remain a recurring incident in Nigeria, after the 2012 devastating flood disaster and similar incident in 2018″.
“We are focusing on early warning signals to help with preparedness and mitigation, in
readiness for the annual seasonal rainfall prediction based on the projected risks”.
She said that, “I will like to draw His Excellency ‘s attention to the annual Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) released by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency on the 24th January 2020 and the annual flood outlook (AFO) released by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) on the 28th of May, 2020”.
She also requested the State Government to kindly take proactive and necessary mitigating measures in adressing these issues:
- Ensure the preparedness of the State Emergency Management Agency, frontline local Government Authorities, and other response Agencies.
- Carry out public enlightenment campaign, targeting vulnerable communities to undertake mitigation actions and prepare for evacuation to safer grounds.
- Identify high grounds for possible Internally displaced Persons camps, to shelter evacuated communities.
- Deslit river channels and canals.
- Remove all refuse, weeds, water hyacinths and floats from water channels, drainage, and on all avenues for river run offs so as to allow free flow of flood water.
Earlier, the Executive Governor of Gombe State, His Excellency, Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya expressed his appreciation for the measures taken by the Federal Government through the Ministry in cushioning the effect of the lock down on the state through the intervention provided by the Ministry and in adressing floods in the State.
He also presented a number of requests to the Minister, for the State to key into other National Social Intervention Programme to improve the livelihood of the populace.
He asked for the inclusion of Gombe state to be part of the frontline states in the North East because the state serves as a boundary to most of the states in that zone and as a result of that, the infrastructure of the state has been over stretched due to the influx of refugees seeking for a peaceful abode.
Deputy Director (Information)
Rhoda Iliya
20 July, 2020
