Soludo demands ‘forceful response’ from presidency, n’assembly on flood disaster

Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, says the federal government must call for a national conversation on the current flood disaster in the country.

On October 10, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, the Anambra deputy governor, said the flooding being experienced in the state is the worst in history.

Ibezim lamented that the deaths, destruction of property, and livelihood were no longer tolerable.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Tuesday, Soludo said eight Anambra LGAs have been submerged, adding that bridges, roads and houses have been washed off.

He called on the presidency and the national assembly to be proactive in seeking immediate and long-term solutions to the issue of flooding. 

“Beyond the immediate coping strategy and our own long-term agenda as a government in dealing with the environment, there is a national conversation that needs to happen,” he said.

“We can no longer deal with perennial flooding as an emergency. We knew it would happen. We know the next one will come. A year or two from now another massive one will come and the country must begin to prepare and ask what if it happens again, what would be our response.

“And that conversation must become a national conversation in the run-up to next year’s election. I think the national assembly, the presidency must give a more forceful response, especially in the next two to three weeks when the flooding recedes.

“The bridges and roads are washed away. There are communities, villages and local governments that are completely cut off. Roads leading to those places have been completely swept off by the flood.”

On Monday, Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development, said over 2.5 million people have been affected so far.

Farouq said of the figure, 1.3 million are displaced, 2,407 persons are injured, and 603 persons are dead.