Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, has disclosed that an all-inclusive plan to mitigate flooding across the country will soon be rolled out.
Abdullahi made the disclosure on Thursday, while featuring in the 69th session of State House Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team in Abuja.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari had formed a powerful committee, which is being presided over by the Minister of Water Resources, to investigate the root causes of persistent flooding and offer long-term solutions.
In his words, “Part of the challenges we have in terms of flooding is that, usually, the Ministry of Environment has what is called the early warning signs and notices to states and then the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) does that.
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“And we advise the states; particularly states we think are flood prone; we advise them to take steps to either move those within the enclave of streams for rivers or lakes to the upland.
“But because of reasons of revenue, state governments issue certificates of occupancy to settlements within those areas because of revenues that trickle in from that thereby exposing the people to the vagaries and challenges of flooding.
“We will continue to provide those early warning signs; we will continue to sensitise them; we will continue to engage them to ensure that they take notice of this and take steps to mitigate the possible challenge of flooding.’’
The minister noted that the committee set up by the Federal Government was a multi-level one as issues of flooding required collaboration between the federal and sub-national governments.
Story was adapted from Enviro News
