Flooding: FG Sets Up Fact-finding Committee, As Ogun Gov’t Vows To Demolish Buildings On Waterways
As part of the efforts at finding sustainable solutions to the perennial flooding that has been ravaging Ogun and Lagos States annually, the federal government on Wednesday, said it will commission a committee that will undergo a comprehensive study of communities ravaged by flooding in Ogun and Lagos States so that it can fully understand what needed to be done to avert future occurrence.
This is just as the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun assured residents of the flood affected zones in Isheri Olofin community of Ifo Local Government Area that the state government will be demolishing building and any other structures that may be sittings on the waterways so as to pave way for a free flow of water into the Lagoon.
These were part of the decisions arrived at by the federal government’s delegate after making an on-the-spot assessment visit of the affected community.
Led by the state Governor, Abiodun, Minister of Environment, Dr. ‘Kunle Salako and his counterpart in the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev had visited the affected community to convey President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s message of sympathy to the affected residents, some of whom have been relocated to the premises of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and that of the Nasrulahi Ilfathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) in the area.
Addressing the affected residents, who converged at the Isheri office of the Ogun State Property Investment Corporation (OPIC), Salako said it was important for the Federal Ministry of the Environment to undertake a comprehensive study of the flooding challenge in order to enable governments understand which type of permanent solution to embark on.
He admonished the residents to be more environmentally responsible, particularly by not building on the flood plains, clear the drainage and ensure that wastes generated are properly disposed.
Salako however, disclosed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian and Disaster Management, as well as all other relevant emergency response agencies have been activated to provide necessary palliative for the affected residents in order to alleviate their sufferings.
In his address, the Minister of Water Resources, Utsev disclosed that the committee set up by federal government to work on the challenges of flooding across the country had visited Ogun and observed some salient challenges in the flood affected areas in the state.
Disclosing that the committee would soon incorporate representatives of the affected community to work with it, Utsev also expressed the optimism that the flooding challenge, ochestrated by the effects of the climate change would be overcome in no distant time.
In his own address, the state governor, Abiodun said the state government will soon begin a re – channelization of of the drainages in the community as part of the measures to finding permanent solution to the flooding challenge in the state.
The governor however, appealed to the residents to be patient with the state and federal government so as to be able to achieve the”lasting and sustainable solutions” to the problem.
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