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Floods: Bayelsa Gov, Diri, slams Nigerian govt over indifference to plight of affected communities

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The Governor of Bayelsa State, Duoye Diri, has issued a scathing criticism at the Federal Government over its seeming indifference to the plight of affected communities as devastating floods ravaged huge swathes of lands in the state and surrounding areas.

Diri made this assertion on Thursday, during an interview on AriseTV, monitored by Ripples Nigeria.

According to the Governor, no official from the FG is yet to visit the state despite repeated calls and appeals.

Diri said, “We believe this is the time we needed the FG, as a father, and since a month now with the state under waters, I have made calls and appeals but no one FG official, in form of the President, Vice President or the Minister is yet to visit us or deploy their federal might.

“The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs is yet to call the Bayelsa Government to commiserate too.

“Nonetheless, we don’t want to overflog the issue so we are still appealing to them to help Bayelsa.”

Furthermore, Governor Diri appealed for a holistic approach towards tackling the environmental hazards, rather than neglect the states in the guise of issuing early warnings.

“This deluge, despite the warnings, is not something that a State government alone can handle. I had expected the FG to invite the affected states on a meeting in order to brainstorm permanent solutions out of this situation.

“The state do not have the resources to build dams, dykes or dredge the rivers; nothing can be done despite the warnings and the FG didn’t do anything about it.

Read also:Pro-Buhari group tasks states, LGAs on effective use of ecological funds to tackle floods

“The current mandate by the President over resolving the situation ought to have been made before the deluge,” the Governor noted.

Since July, over three million people have been affected in 34 states in the worst flooding the country has seen in over a decade. At least 603 people have died and over 2,400 have been injured. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), over 1.4 million people have been displaced due to the floods as of 24 October.

Reports so far indicate that over 300,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged. In addition to losing shelter, hundreds of thousands of people have had their livelihoods and access to food compromised. An estimated 569,251 hectares of farmland has been damaged, leaving households unable to cultivate their crops and resulting in loss of food source and income.

A report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs revealed that the number of people affected by widespread flooding across Nigeria has risen to over 3.2 million, with over 600 fatalities.

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