Following a recent flood prediction by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMET), residents of eight local government areas and 56 communities in Bauchi State billed to be affected by the disaster this month have urged the government at all levels to come to their aid.
They begged the government to assist them ahead of the impending flooding in their respective areas.
The District Head of Bauchi, Alhaji Nuru Adamu Jumba, made the call during a Sensitization Engagement on Flood Disaster Preparedness and Response organised for stakeholders in Bauchi. He said the meeting is timely considering the present situation in the state.
Jumba said the identified 56 communities and eight local government areas are in dire need of government intervention in mitigating the flooding ahead of the NiMET prediction.
“This meeting was the first of its kind in the State where communities came from different locations to brainstorm and come up with solutions on a particular issue that’s affecting them, like this one of flooding”, he said.
He calls on the communities, religious leaders and the general public to support the government in achieving its tasks to mitigate the persistent flooding.
The Director General of Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA), Dr Ibrahim Kabir, who doubles as State Coordinator of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, said the state government has put the necessary effort into mitigating the impending flood in identified areas in the state.
According to him, the government has already set up a team of medical experts that wouldn’t work 24/7 in all the IDPs camps in the affected communities.
He disclosed that the stakeholder meeting is one of the major steps taken by the present government with a view to brainstorming on the how, why and ways of solving the situation.
He further disclosed that the agency had also constituted a number of community engagement officers to work with the affected communities in identifying the major issues and proper solutions at the community level.
The DG named the prone local government areas as Bauchi, Zaki, Gamawa, Itas Gadau, Giade, Jama’are, Kirfi and Shira. In corroboration, the representative of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and National Orientation Agency (NOA) Adamu Na Yola and Nuru Kobi all attributed the situation a result of man-made, urged people to work with government advice and directives to save the lives of their families.
