Lokoja:No convergence of floodwaters at the Conference TownIT was a disaster predicted by scientists. But when it came, it caught the nation napping. The flood ravaging the nation in the last two weeks was foretold by meteorologists. They warned of heavy rainfall and flood. They even pinpointed the states lying on the berth of the flood. But nothing seemed done to mitigate its impact. Now, the authorities want to lock the cage after the prey had bolted away.That, it is, was the Senate's call on the Federal Government mid-week to strengthen the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to be able to help victims of the flood nationwide. The Federal Government, through the Minister of Works, Mike Ononelemen, was in Lokoja during the week to condole victims of the flood and he unfurled remediation plans of the government especially quick restoration of road transportation decimated by the flood and donation of relief materials to victims both in Kogi State and other parts of the country were there had been flooding.After the Atlantic Ocean surge in Lagos about two months ago, the Federal Government was lethargic in responding to the disaster that killed several people.For Nigerians who loathe the roads and want to travel by air, it looked like a conspiracy, as air transportation in the country of recent has not been the best. Many airlines are in distress and therefore, not flying. The few still flying are overbooked and overstretched. The railways is still a dream on the drawing board while the waterways, where there are functional boats, have been made unsafe by activities of sea pirates and kidnappers.The flooding in many states of the North has been described as unprecedented and it is the worst in the last 80 years.Lokoja, the picturesque conference town in the Savannah region, seemed the worst hit. Its highways connecting Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, the North and the South have been submerged. Many villages and towns have been cut off from each other. Residents can be sighted marooned on both sides of a river or stream. Canoes have become the mode of ferrying commuters from one side of a town to the other.The story is not different in other cities nationwide where the flood has also been intense.Dams in neighbouring Cameroun and Kainji in Nigeria are being blamed for the deluge. The waters in the reservoirs of the dams are threatening to burst at the seams with the rising levels of the floodwaters, which, if not released in a controlled manner, could damage the multi-million naira infrastructure with collateral damage to electricity generation and agricultural irrigation.But, in trying to prevent disaster in one area, another is created. As the dams were opened, it caused the massive flooding. People have drowned. Property destroyed. Farms are washed away.For many of the flood survivors in Kogi, if they considered themselves lucky, it did not show in their countenance. On a visit to Ibaji Local Council, worst hit by the flood, one is confronted by gathering of groups of displaced persons. They are visibly dejected. They hurdle together in classrooms. Homeless. They have become refugees in their own state. Virtually all the communities in Ibaji are completely submerged, including farmlands, the mainstay of the people's economy.'Ibaji is gone!' cried the Liaison Officer 1 for Ibaji Local Council, David Ina Ogu, as he narrated the ordeal of his wards whose heritage had been theatrically washed away before their eyes.The smaller coastal settlements that were ordinarily not accessible by road before the flood have been buried in floodwater. Some of the villages in Bassa Local Council including Shintaku, Mozum and Sheriya, have gone to riverbeds.The victims are not swayed by promises of relief materials government officials talk about but are not seen. Even relocated displaced victims do not have faith in government's action. They want their lives returned to normalcy not to relief camps. Some of the residents say that they were not forewarned by government officials of the impending doom.In Kogi, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has added five boats to the rescue fleet, bringing to eight the boats released so far. The decision became necessary after the initial three released on Sunday for rescue were discovered to be inadequate considering the magnitude of the job.Ogu confirmed to The Guardian that seven boats loaded with relief materials had arrived the camps in neighbouring Idah, jointly coordinated by NEMA and SEMA officials and led by a senior Air Force officer. He said that some of the displaced persons who had taken refuge on tree tops since Saturday had been brought down and relocated to the various designated relief camps in Idah.The camps have benefited from initial relief materials deployed by the NEMA to the various camps in Benue and Kogi states. The materials were to be shared among 10,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Governor Idris Wada had earlier directed that victims of the flooding in Lokoja Local Council be moved, temporarily, to St. Luke's Primary School, Adankolo where the state government was assisting SEMA with logistics for provision of food items, drugs, blankets and mosquito nets.Classrooms in St. Luke's Primary School on Wednesday were shared between flood victims and students.As far as he is concerned, Olusegun Iselaiye, a graduate of Human Anatomy from the University of Ilorin, said that the pupils of St. Luke's might have inadvertently been displaced as well by government's decision to move in flood victims with pupils while the school was in session. According to him 'government could do better. We all know they cannot be comfortable; both the students and the displaced persons. And it all boils down to lack of preparedness on the part of government and the people. I am surprised the Work Minister is saying the disaster is a force majeure; but I beg to disagree! It's more of stupidity ' both on the part of government and people. We got both scientific and spiritual advance warnings on this issue, how come the Minister is now 'branding' it force majeure''Many people build houses indiscriminately and without drainage. Government on its part, among other acts of languour, constructs roads without making adequate provisions for drainage systems. We are as guilty as the government on this flood issue. That said, our concern should be on taking proper care of the flood victims now, bearing in mind that two categories of victims exist ' those displaced from their homes and those travelers that are stranded in Lokoja and other flood-ravaged communities around.'Government should ensure that these victims are provided with enough relief materials. The victims can be taken to NYSC orientation camp in the meantime, provided the NYSC camp itself is not flooded. The accommodation in Lokoja Stadium is also a good place to keep the victims. This government should take people's wellbeing more seriously than this.'But Wada's spokesman, Jacob Edi insisted the flooding was unexpected and that government acted right.'This is an emergency. No one planned for it. The floods will not stay forever so as soon as it abates, the victims will go back to their houses. No one wants it to last forever.'Besides Ibaji, Lokoja and Idah, other local councils affected in Kogi are Kotonkarfe, Bassa, Ofu, Omala, and Ajaokuta.Meanwhile, NEMA's Director of Planning, Research and Forecasting, Charles Agbo who had earlier led a delegation of the Presidential Panel on flooded states inKogi, warned of prolonged flooding as more water would still be released from Lagdo Dam in Cameroun and Kainji Dam, especially with the intensifying rains.He therefore urged the state governments to enforce the standard regulations on urban planning and development as well as permanently relocate communities in the flood plains to safer locations.He cautioned that even after the flood, most of the submerged houses may become too weak and no longer safe for habitation, in addition to the potential health hazards from the disaster.He sympathized with the people and government of Kogi State and assured of the Federal Government's support for immediate relief materials, aimed at providing succor to those affected.The NEMA Director commended the state for its sense of organisation and arrangement, describing the flood as natural and a cycle in the life of the people. He called on the state government to seek ways of improving its urban renewal scheme, which he advised will discourage people building on water channels.Governor Wada, represented by his deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, lauded the seriousness attached by the Federal Government towards mitigating the plight of the affected people in the state.Wada disclosed that the state government has taken the effect of the natural disaster very personal, adding that government is on top of the situation providing several measures aimed at granting relief to the suffering faced by the people.Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West) who earlier accompanied Senate President David Mark on inspection tour of the affected areas in Lokoja, regretted that NEMA is incapable of meeting its targets because the agency is underfunded. He therefore called for proper funding of the agency to enable it carry out its responsibilities promptly and effectively.Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), which on Sunday announced the closure of the Lokoja-Abuja road due to the increase in the water level and protracted gridlock on the vital road which served as the North-South gateway, is yet to come out with any official statement as to when the road will be re-opened to traffic. Alternatively, the FRSC advised travelers to the South to make use of Akwanga-Lafia-Ankpa-Ajaokuta routes and vice versa. Travellers who did not find the FRSC advice useful, especially those that had been stranded for upward three days in the traffic, were seen making efforts to find their ways through the road. Some abandoned their vehicles while embracing commercial motorcyclists who make brisk business conveying passengers from the NATACO junction to Ukomi community. But because of the volume of the water on Ukomi, the passengers are handed over to youths to ferry them on canoe across to Banda where another set of 'waterway transporters' are waiting to ferry the passengers to Jamata, where they finally board vehicles.Hope however rose for motorists and travellers on Abuja-Lokoja road on Monday, following the visit of Minister of Works to Lokoja, where he conveyed plans by the Federal Government to fix the road and open it up for free movement of vehicles, within days.Accompanied by his counterparts in the Ministry of Environment, Hajia Hadiza Mailafia and Water Resources, Mrs. Serah Ochekpe, managing directors of three construction firms, Julius Berger Plc, RCC, and Dantata and Sawoe and their teams, Onolememen disclosed that the Federal Government had contracted the three major construction firms in the country 'to assess the impact and address the situation immediately.'The flooding in Edo State has also been intense, causing Governor Adams Oshiomhole to release hundred of millions of naira for relief materials to victims in the affected local councils.Meanwhile, travelers in the country have not found joy in air travel either.Just last week no fewer than 100 domestic flights were cancelled and hundreds of passengers were stranded nationwide as operations of Nigeria's largest airline, Arik Air, were temporarily grounded.Nigeria's other two main airlines are in dire straits: Dana Air has seen bookings collapse following the June 3 plane crash that killed about 160 people, while the former national carrier, Air Nigeria, has almost collapsed due to alleged mounting debts.Aero Contractors, currently the second largest airline, was overwhelmed by the number of passengers trying to get seats on its flights to various destinations.Following the June 3 Dana Air crash in Lagos, the aviation industry has come under scrutiny with submission that the Nigerian aviation industry is suffering from a lack of continuity and a well thought out plan.The management of Air Nigeria had earlier suspended all its local, regional and international operations with effect from September 10, 2012.A statement from the airline said the suspension was largely due to staff disloyalty and environmental tension, 'which are not conducive for business in the aviation sector.'The statement quoted the Chairman of the airline, Jimoh Ibrahim, as saying that it was difficult to continue further investment in the carrier with the high level of worker disloyalty and weak business environment.'But we are strongly committed to ensuring that Air Nigeria survives,' he added.With roads still in a parlous state and some cordoned off by flood and railways apparently non-existent, the pains of domestic travelers know no limit.Contrary to the claims of some victims of the flooding in Kwara State that the government had no awareness programme before the flooding came, the government had warned on September 10, people living along riverbanks to vacate immediately to avoid flooding.The affected areas are Moro, Edu, Patigi, Baruten and Kaiama local council areas.The warning is contained in a statement issued on early in the month in Ilorin by the Secretary to the State Government, Isiaka Gold, and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Dauda Nurudeen.The statement said the warning had become necessary following a distress call by the NEMA to the state that there would be floods in the 48 hours in the areas. The statement advised people in the areas to move to higher grounds for safety to avert imminent loss of lives and property that might arise in the effect of flooding.The government reiterated its commitment to the welfare of the people and urged them to adhere to the warning.The Federal Government declared the Kogi flood a 'national disaster' after several people have were killed, and thousands displaced as the River Niger continues to overflow its banks.According to reports, the recent flooding has affected no fewer than two million people.The flooding was caused by the release of water from two dams in the Niger and Kwara states.Many buildings, including the state-owned Confluence Beach Hotel, have been totally submerged. The Lokoja-Abuja highway, one of the main roads in Kogi State was also brought to a standstill due to the flood.Onolememen said the level of water seen in the past two weeks was the worst flood to hit Nigeria in more than 80 years.
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