Niger alerts residents to impending flooding

 investigations have revealed that the Niger State Government is looking forward to a disaster-free 2024 rainy season in spite of the projections of flooding in some states of the federation by the National Metrological Agency.

To achieve this, the state government has revealed that it has in earnest began to monitor the water level and sensitise residents, especially those within the local government areas that are prone to flooding in the state on the need to be on the alert and move to the upland area.

Apart from its sensitisation efforts, the state has also started to put in place logistics to avert disasters usually caused by floods in the state.

The Niger State Emergency Management Agency disclosed this to Arewa PUNCH while presentjng a shopping list of items that would be required at the various emergency resettlement centers developed for the state in the event that victims of flooding were relocated to such places.

recalls that in 2023, some of the local governments ravaged by flooding in Niger State included Mokwa, Gbako, Lavun, Edati,  Lapai, Agaie, Rijau, Katcha, Chanchaga, Magama and Mariga where several lives were lost and goods worth millions of naira also lost to the floods

When  contacted Niger State Commissiomer of Information, Binta Mamman to get her reaction over the level of the state’s preparations to mitigate the impact of any flooding disaster, Mamman said the government of Governor Mohammed Bago had put measures in place to ensure that the residents of the state are protected.

“Governor Bago has been in constant touch with the Ministry of Environment and the State Emergency Management Agency and also provided all the logistics needed to ensure that the people are not adversely affected by any flooding,” she said.

Also, the Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Yakubu Kolo, told  Arewa PUNCH on the telephone that the state had concluded  arrangements to forestall any impending flooding.

He revealed that the state agencies have been placed on the alert through the prediction of the Metrological Agency and started the enlightenment and sensitisation campaigns in the affected local governments.

“We are aware of the strategic position the state occupies and the impact of flooding in the past, and so, we are determined that our people will not suffer from flooding.

“Already, we have sensitised all the major stakeholders and provided alternative settlements in the event of displacement by floodings,” Kolo said.

The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency Abdullahi Baba-Arah equally spoke to  on telephone, explaining why the state is prone to flooding.

Baba-Arah noted that in spite of its strategic landscape and positioning, the government has put in place measures to ensure that this year’s anticipated flood would not negatively impact the residents.

Baba-Arah, who maintained that the state is at the receiving end of rains from other countries and states, pointed out that floods from some countries and states find their way into Niger State.

According to him, the state government has a result and made resources available to ensure that the residents are safe during any flooding.

“For now, we are supposed to be on the alert, but it can change. The territorial rains here, the one that is going to affect this area, will not cause much problem and at the same time, because of the River Niger that criss-crossed through this state, sometimes our rain can be as a result of rains that happen in other countries like Guinea and which flows through about six states before it comes here.

“All activities of rains in those countries will likely affect us at  the inflow of the River Niger and it is going to cause flooding in some local governments in the state. That is why even if the prediction at the state here says we are going to have likely normal rain, when it starts raining here, they may change the prediction.

“Last time, they said we were going to have normal rain. Later, it now changed that we were going to have slightly above normal, so we are expected to be on alert because of the changes.

“Now, they have stopped the straight-jacket prediction. What they do now is that as the rains start, they use to have a review of their predictions. Whether we like it or not, rains from six countries pass through River Niger and Niger State is at the receiving end, and its confluence at River Benue. It now moves through that place to the Atlantic Ocean. The receiving end is always Niger State,” the DG stated.

Baba-Arah also spoke about the preparation of the state to ensure that the impending flooding does not cause major havoc in the state or its residents.

He disclosed that resettlement centres have been created and the government has provided the funds to purchase food and other domestic items that would make life easy for the Displaced Persons.

“As for preparation, the governor has asked us to list the safer grounds where people can be evacuated to. Safer grounds can be in terms of public buildings like schools, camps that were built for us by the Federal Government like the ones built by the presidential committee on flooding during the Jonathan’s administration and some settlement grounds that have been constructed where people will go and take shelter.

“Resettlement is capital intensive. So, those things have been built, and we have informed the governor. There are other items that we have listed to the government, like food, mattresses, sanitary materials, and other items that people will need to make life easier for them at the resettlement places.

“We have held meetings with the stakeholders, and enlightenment campaigns have been taking place. We have volunteers who are monitoring  the water level and feeding us with information that we make use of,” he pointed out.