The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has finally approved the National Emergency Flood Preparedness and Response Plans for Nigeria in order to mitigate and reduce the impact of floods in the nation. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, after the emergency meeting on Flood situation with relevant stakeholders, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, said experts responsible for controlling flood disaster informed that the scale of the 2022 flooding was similar to that of 2012. He said that the federal government is prepared to reduce the impact, adding that plans are on to ensure that even places and communities that were not affected also get some relief.
He recalled that, earlier in 2022, NiMet predicted that some parts of the country are bound to experience heavy rainfall and that, deep into the rainy season, one of the African countries would release water from its dam, explaining that the release of the water will inadvertently led to an increase in volume of water that Nigeria is taking in and he was quick to state that the impact will be reduced to the barest minimum and more lives will be saved. He said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) came made available relief materials to reach up to 315,000 people that were displaced across the line of the flooding impact.
Sani-Gwarzo revealed that, a three prompt approach for the future was reached unanimously, during the meeting of the stakeholders. He said: “It is on record that over 1.4 million persons were displaced, about 500 persons have been reported dead, 790,254 persons moved out of their locations and 1,546 persons were injured. Similarly, 44, 099 houses were partially damaged, 45,249 houses were totally damaged, 76,168 hectares of farm lands were partially destroyed, while 70, 566 hectares of farm lands were completely destroyed.
“The National Emergency Flood Preparedness and Response Plans for Nigeria has just been approved by the Federal Executive Council and it contains all the details of the roadmap that needs to be done. It include, the immediate, short term and long term plans and therefore, we have a clear view of what to do and how to go about it, mitigate and reduce the impact of flood in the country. We are taking all the necessary actions to bring relief to the people affected by the flood. All the concern agencies have renewed their commitment to strengthen their efforts in reaching out to the victims and bring relief to them. They include, the immediate actions that would be taken by respective agencies, the short term measures and the long term measures that would be taken by agencies responsible.”
