Nigeria Can Take Advantage of Flood to Boost Food Security, Says Commission

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

The Managing Director, Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Mr. Sadiq Yelwa, has said though flooding in the country has had devastating effects on the people, it could as well be used to boost food security both for local consumption and exports.

Sadiq has also declared the commission’s readiness to partner relevant stakeholders, including the National Assembly not only to mitigate the devastating effects of floods in the country but also to deploy it for all year farming.

The HYPPADEC boss stated this in Abuja yesterday at the end of a four-day training organised for staff of the commission for capacity development.

He explained: “We are studying to see how we we can put the misadventure into an adventure of fortune by using the flooding as a means of providing water for irrigation, which has supported the communities because most times when you have a flooding, the land becomes more fertile and they will be able to produce more than they I used to.

“So we are going to give the farmers the necessary support they require to produce more agricultural product all year round, whereas they do only two times at one time. So, we can even encourage them to do more than that.

“We need another source of foreign reserves for the country. Our rice, our beans, our cotton all three of these can be produced and exported and give our people better source of living, said Sadiq who explained that state governors have been trying but more needed to be done to encourage them.

He said: “It is high time people stop playing politics with lives, it is high time people stopped playing politics with the lives of the communities, it is high time we look at what should be done of course, the reverse have been the case”. 

“Even if we don’t have the resources to drain the rivers, we can go into partnership with those that utilize the sand for their economic activities in glassmaking, in construction making, so that they can go and get the sand. As soon as they get it, it reduces the level of flood that can come there.

“He said for instance, in Kogi State, a lot of resources have been expended by the government to try to provide a pavement between the river and the surrounding community. But you can see as God has it, even in the areas where the pavement was available, the water over flew that and went to houses and but for those areas, that there was no that pavement, the situation was worst.”

On what contribution has the commission made to communities affected by flood, he said: “We have been able to as soon, even before the flooding, we sponsored television, radio and public announcement programme to inform the public about the incoming danger of flooding and advising those living very close to the rivers to vacate and that we have also used the traditional institutions to ensure that they meet with members of the public.

Sadiq went further to explain why  some persons were killed by the flood.

He explained: “And that is why in some states, the flooding came but did not affect their lives because they left the communities when they knew when the flooding will take place.

“But in some, they were adamant about it. You know, that’s the problem with the fishermen. They always want to remain in the river side. And that was what happened.

“So it was something that could not be controlled. But when we realised it happened, we quickly went into action. We provided food we, provided building materials, and we even provided financial support to the affected communities.

“This is in addition to a medical outreach, which we sponsored in all the communities that were affected in order to look at the physical nature of the of those affected people give them drugs free of charge, and also advise them on the way to move forward.

“And this has prompted us to facilitate our activity of providing safe haven for communities that are prone to this danger, by building a kind of resettlement homes for some of them,” he added.