By Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri and Fred Itua, Abuja
president Bola Tinubu has announced Federal Government’s plan to help rehabilitate flood victims in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Tinubu who visited the state to sympathise with the government and affected persons including the Shehu of Borno, said the flood disaster was a collective pain.
“It is our problem, not just your problem. We share in your pains. We as a government, as Nigerian people, pledge to be with you in rehabilitation,” he announced at the palace of Shehu of Borno.
He said it was time the government tackled environmental problems and climate change differently.
He said he halted his scheduled visit to the UK to be in Borno to sympathise with the people noting that he was briefed about the severe flooding by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“I thank the governor for his leadership,” he stated..
He commended the Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and others who visited Borno State to offer support, saying the country’s diversity ought to be used for her prosperity.
Tinubu, during a stop over at some displaced persons; camp at Government College Yerwa said government would support the people. “We will support you,” he promised.
He arrived Maiduguri via the Nigerian Air Force base at about 3:20pm. He was accompanied by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and received by Governor Babagana Zulum, governor’s of Bauchi, Kwara, Kogi and Sokoto.
Others included ministers of agriculture, Senator Abubakar Kyari and his environment counterpart, Balarabe Lawal, former governor of Borno, Ali Sheriff, Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, Director General National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs Zubgaida Umar among others.
Meanwhile, former leader of the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has donated N50 million to the victims of last week’s flooding in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as part of moves to cushion their pains.
This is even as leaders and other stakeholders from Southern Borno have initiated moves to raise funds for the victims.
Ndume, while lamenting the plight of the victims, called on the Federal Government to consider the flood disaster a national issue and create emergency feeding centres for the victims.
The senator, who commended Governor Zulum for creating over 25 camps for the victims, said the Ramat Square in Maiduguri would be a good place for such, adding that emergency feeding is standard practice worldwide in times of emergency such as flooding.
He said to avert the humanitarian crisis resulting from a high level of displacement of citizens who are still surging the IDP camps, the Federal Government should proactively collaborate with the state government and make food available by opening up a bigger feeding centre by contracting volunteers.
The senator, who noted that nobody would understand the magnitude of the destruction done by the flood to the lives and property of citizens until the person moves round the affected areas, said the destruction was more than the state government alone could handle.
He solicited the support of wealthy Nigerians, nongovernmental organisations and good-spirited citizens to support the Borno State Government in addressing the destruction caused by the flood in Maiduguri and its environs.
The Borno South lawmaker further urged the Federal Government to open makeshift medical centres that would cater to the health needs of victims in the interim.
He noted that such an urgent intervention would help affected residents who are currently camped in IDP centres in Maiduguri.
He said: “The Alau Dam collapse is not just a Borno issue, but a national disaster. I have never seen this kind of overwhelming disaster. I think it will be a herculean task in a couple of days and even weeks for this situation to return to normal. Most houses would not survive because they had been submerged and the foundations had weakened.
“I am calling on all corporate Nigerians to rise up and support because the government cannot do it alone. We really need to help make sure that people do not continue to suffer. Some of them have been in their houses for the last six days.
“What the Federal Government needs to do is to come and do the survey, get dredging equipment and get to the discharge of the Alau Dam and try to excavate the water way out so that the water can flow and go, otherwise the aftermath will be more disastrous.
“Most buildings that were submerged are not strong, and if they continue to stay in water, they will collapse. Most people trapped in their communities are still there because it is only boats that the Nigerian military, other security agencies, and the state government are using to rescue people there.
“I am using this opportunity to move a motion since we are in recess for the Federal Government to intensify action against the plight of the victims of the insurgency.”
