Panelists in an online media programme has commiserated with victims of the current flood disaster in Nigeria.
They also called on governments at all levels to wake up to their responsibilities to bring the perennial flood disaster that affects most part of the country to an end.
This was the view of panelists at a media programme of the Delta Online Publishers From, DOPF Media Hangout, which is held monthly.
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The panelists comprising of veteran Journalist, Writer Mrs. Herrientta Oyakhilome, Deputy Manager of the Delta State-owned Pointer Newspaper, and a former Student Leader, Mr. Comrade Donald Igudia frowned at the inaction of the federal government to finding solution to end the effect of the annual releasing of water from the Cameroonian Dam, which when opened empties its excess water to Nigeria Communities.
The programme was Streamed Live on Facebook, and moderated by Abel Johngold of the Federal Orientation Agency.
The discussants agreed that flood is an environmental problem, an age-old phenomenon, which causes a significant rise of water level in a stream, lake, reservoir, or coastal system that overflows the banks as a result of natural or man-made disaster that causes discomforts, destruction of lives and property as well as pollution.
The panelists, while commiserating with victims of flood in Delta and Nigeria in general over the discomforts, the destruction of lives and their properties and other disease outbreaks following the ravaging flood menace, said government at all levels should always be sensitive, be prepared and proactive enough to combat menace on time by building IDP’s across the local governments before the occurrence, so as to avoid more loss of lives by heeding to the early warning of Nigerian Metrological Department, NIMET and other States and Federal Orientation agencies.
The discussants bemoaned the fact that government has not been sensitive to the plight of Nigerians, which is why they failed to complete the Dam being constructed at Adamawa State to take in the excess water from Cameroon.
They asked the government, as a matter of urgency to act on the agreement the country had with Cameroun before their Dams were constructed in 1977 as a group traced the origin of flood menace in Nigeria.
The group alleged that Presidebt Buhari stopped the construction of the dam during his time as military head of state.
The DOPF therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to complete the project and as well construct more Dams to solve the problem of endemic flood menace in the country.
According to them,”investigations reveal that the opening of the Dam in Cameroun after the water has reached the maximum level, in a larger quantity the rise had to flow down to Nigerian rivers, especially the River Niger and River Benue resulting in Flood menace in Nigeria and consistently caused unquantifiable loss of lives and property, diseases, pollutions in the country a case study of 2012, 2016 and 2022, an agreement as reached by Cameroonian Government with Nigeria”.
They also appealed to Governments at all levels to put measures early enough, heed the warning of NIMET, Orientation Agencies by mobilizing funds, and partner with other critical stakeholders to build Camps for internally displaced Persons (IDP Camps)
On the distribution of palliatives, they called on the government to be up and doing, and to avoid a repeat of what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic palliative distribution, by monitoring the activities of the Flood Committees in various IDP Camps to avoid politicians enriching themselves with the sorrows of other Deltans, Nigerians.
They also called on the affected states to go beyond food distribution and building of IDP camps but also see how they can construct their own Dams to hold back the rising waters any time it occurs.
