Uba Sani directs MDAs to draw up flood mitigation plan

Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, has directed stakeholders in the state to come up with an effective flood mitigation plan for areas identified by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) as flood-prone.

Abubakar Buba, the commissioner for environment and natural resources in Kaduna, announced on Monday the directive during a sensitisation campaign to distil drainage at the Lagos motor park at Mando in Igabi LGA.

The ‘Distilling drainage’ project is a Kaduna agro-climatic resilience in semi-arid landscapes (KAD-ACReSAL) project supported by the World Bank.

Buba said ministries and development agencies in the state have been working on the flood mitigation plan for nearly three months.

“Since it is the rainy season, we have decided to distil all the drainages within the city centre and the three senatorial zones, Kaduna, Kafanchan, and Zaria metropolis,” he said.

“We are going to distil 160,000 meters of drainage within the city centres of the three senatorial zones.

“In doing this, we are sure that by the time the rain comes to its peak, it will have a way to flow back into the river, which can prevent any likely occurrence in the state.”

Buba urged citizens to support the government by ending the disposal of garbage into drainage systems and ensuring that they keep their areas clean.

“All the flood-prone areas have drainage systems, and the only thing is that most of the drainage is blocked. We involve the people in the work we are doing so that, at the end of the day, sustainability can be achieved,” he said.

The commissioner noted that a monitoring and evaluation team comprising the Kaduna State Environmental Protection Authority (KEPA), the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), officials from the LGAs, traditional rulers, women and youths, and men would be involved to ensure success.