- * As Over 400,000 Persons Have Been Displaced
By David Odama (In Lafia, Nasarawa State)
Worried by the devastating effects of flooding in several parts of Nasarawa state, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), on Thursday, donated relief materials to the State Government for distribution to victims of flood that ravaged parts of Nasarawa.
The Director-General of the agency, Alhaji Mustapha Habib Ahmed, represented by the Director of Planning and Forecasting, Dr Fatima Kassim, said the widespread flood in several states of the country, especially Nasarawa state, was due to the heavy rains coupled with the release of water from the Lagdo dam in Cameroon.
According to the NEMA boss, 11 local government areas were affected in Nasarawa State which included Awe, Toto, Keana, Doma and Nasarawa, adding that other flash points were Eggon, Keffi, Obi, Lafia, Wamba and Karu Local Government Areas.
The NEMA DG who commiserated with the Nasarawa State government and the victims on behalf of the Federal Government, said the relief materials cannot compensate for the lives lost, properties or the aftermath trauma. He said the intervention was a testimony that the Federal Government through NEMA is always concerned about the welfare and wellbeing of the people," he said
"What the Federal Government has done through NEMA is to help people get back to their feet and restart their lives with relief interventions. The disasters were inevitable, hence the need to learn to prepare for them, mitigate their impact and transfer losses through insurance.
He also said setting up of functional and vibrant Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) in every local government area is the way to go in order to ensure timely intervention to save lives when disasters occur," he said.
While appealing to the state government to take disaster risk reduction to the grassroots where most of disasters occurred, the D-G, assured Nasarawa State of NEMA's continuous support and thanked the government for the cooperation with the agency.
Receiving the items, Gov. Abdullahi Sule, represented by his Deputy, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, thanked NEMA for the gesture, saying it would go a long way to ameliorate the plight of the flood victims.
He said that the state government had been proactive through its Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA) in planning for disasters, especially flooding.
According to the governor, the state government had made budgetary provisions and embarked on massive awareness campaign on flood through NASEMA, as well as identified alternative arrangement for those living in flood plains.
Sule said that the state government was doing its best to provide relief materials to the victims but needed more support given its lean resources and several competing demands.
He, therefore, called for more support from NEMA, assuring that the relief items donated and that of the state government would be judiciously distributed to the affected persons.
In his remarks, Executive Secretary of NASEMA, Mr Zachary Allumaga, disclosed that over 400,000 persons were displaced by the flood in 92 communities across 11 local government areas of the state.
While pointing out that the relief materials from both NEMA and the state government was grossly inadequate considering the enormity of the disaster, NASEMA boss, however, expressed gratitude to NEMA for the items donated and appealed for more from other agencies and spirited individuals.
The relief materials donated include mattresses, blankets, towels, nylon mats, mosquito nets, cooking stoves, pots as well as plastics buckets, plates and spoons, wrappers, toilet soaps and detergents, sanitary pads and baby diapers, as well as clothing for men, women and children. NNL.