NIWA Donates N5m Food Items to Flood Victims in Kogi

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

As part of efforts to mitigate the devastating effects of the 2022 flood in Kogi State, the management of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has donated the sum of N5 million and food items worth several millions of naira to the flood victims in the state.

The Managing Director of NIWA, George Moghalu, disclosed this while speaking at the presentation of cash and food items donated to the state government to cushion the effects of the flood in Kogi State at the Ministry of Environment in Lokoja yesterday.

Moghalu, who sympathised with the victims in the state, noted that the victims are Kogites who were unfortunate as a result of a natural disaster and could not be left alone in the hours of need.

He explained that because of the climate change or global warming, it is pertinent that there would be flood yearly.

According to him, the information available to NIWA by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) indicated that there will be more rainfall in 2023, and hence the flood will be more than that of last year which ravaged many states in the country.

He, therefore, urged the Ministry of Environment and other agencies to engage in intense sensitisation of the people living on the flood plains to avoid continuous disaster in the state.

The managing director also warned those living in the flood-prone areas to relocate to higher ground now, stressing that they should not allow the problem to come before finding solutions.

He tasked the Ministry of Environment to ensure adequate control of refuse dumping, noting that dumping of refuse in the water channel will ultimately bring about flooding, as he warned the residents not to dump refuse in the drainage in the cities and towns.

The state Commissioner for Environment, Victor Omofaye, who spoke on behalf of the state government, expressed gratitude to the NIWA management for the donations.

He explained that the state government was not living any stone unturned, noting that efforts have been made in several flood-prone communities to relocate the victims but not interested to quit their ancestral homes.

He added that however, the government was planning to build more housing estates to accommodate flood victims in the state.