NEC orders evaluation of Nigeria’s waterways, dams to mitigate flooding

The National Economic Council (NEC) has directed the federal ministry of water resources and sanitation to carry out a comprehensive integrity review of the state of Nigeria’s waterways and dams.

Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, said the assessments are part of efforts to mitigate the impact of flooding.

Soludo spoke in Abuja on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, after Vice-President Kashim Shettima presided over the NEC meeting.

The governor said Joseph Utsev, minister of water resources and sanitation, briefed members of the NEC on the government’s interventions across the country regarding the impact of this year’s flooding.

“There was a serious emphasis on the need for a massive programme of dredging of the waterways,” Soludo said.

“The council also urged governors who have not submitted their reports on the situation of flooding and management in their states to do so immediately.

“Council also noted that the green climate fund should have an infrastructure resilient fund component, and it was also noted that there are some critical parts of the country that are very massively ravaged by this flooding, particularly the south-east and south-south that are completely omitted in the ongoing programmes of the construction of dams, at least to act as speed bumps along the highways, particularly in the River Niger.”

Soludo added that the council considered the national emergency and the responses on the damages and the coordination taking place between the states and the federal government and outlined further steps that should be taken.

The Anambra governor said the flooding affected 217 LGAs in 34 states and 1, 374, 557 persons.

“The disaster displaced 740,743 people nationwide and killed 321 residents,” he said.

“About 321 were reported dead, 2,0845 were injured, and 250,800 cultivated farmlands were destroyed by the flood.”