By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors has approved the sum of 200 million dollars IDA credit for Nigeria to improved Oyo state, disaster risk management capabilities.
The fund was to provide support and strengthen community based resilience capacity and provide early warning system in the state.
The global bank in a statement said that Ibadan’s residents are the most vulnerable people who are mostly affected by the flood s. “The most recent flood of August 2011 has caused so much human and economic losses which primarily are in housing, education, agriculture and transportation,” it said.
It said the integrated long term solution of flooding in Ibadan was paramount for the World Bank to intervene and to support the Oyo state government by finance the flood management project. The Ibadan Urban Flood Management project will benefit the 3.1 million people in living in the city.
More so, the World Bank Country Director, Marie-Francoise Nelly said that “Nigerian cities are growing at a scale never seen before and are exposing more people to disaster impacts. Floods and other climate-related shocks are a severe threat to the achievement of the country’s development goals,” the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria. “It is critical that these cities are able to face these significant challenges, and prepare for potential natural disasters and climate change.”
The World Bank Task Team Leader for the project Sateh Chafic El-Arnaout added that the project would establish early warning and flood response actions and will also finance the rehabilitation of
Ibadan city drains, roads and bridges, as well as restoring the flood damaged Eleyele dam.
The project would develop a long-term flood risk management framework. It reinforces Oyo State government’s early warning and response capabilities and leverages existing World Bank projects such as the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) in Oyo State.
“By promoting a policy shift from reactive disaster response to preventive flood risk management, both the Federal and the Oyo State Governments have shown strong commitment to flood risk management in Ibadan,” said.
