•Ask Buhari to request supplementary budget of N100bn from NASS
By Christiana Ekpa
The House of Representatives, Monday mandated its Committee on Appropriation to provide additional N200 billion in the 2023 appropriation fiscal year, for the Ecological Project Office in the Presidency for flood preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery and relief packages.
The House equally asked the Federal Government to make an urgent request for Supplementary Budget from the National Assembly, for the sum of N100 billion or more, to the Ecological Project Office- EPO (The Presidency) as Intervention Fund for Mitigation, Recovery and Relieve Programs across the Nation.
The Green Chamber equally called the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Office of the Accountant General`s Office of the Federation, to immediately release the sum N5 billion into the Special Ecological Fund Account of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to the House, it’s resolutions is to mitigate the effect of flooding that recently ravaged the entire nation.
It’s equally asked the House Committee on Legislative Agenda to coordinate a Technical Working Group between the Executive and Legislature as well as Industrial Experts and stakeholders to articulate an Action Plan to forestall a repeat of such flood and erosion disaster in 2023 and beyond.
The House resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent importance on the “need for strategic planning and funding to prevent the re-occurrence of flood and erosion disasters in Nigeria in 2023 and beyond” moved by Hon Henry Nwawuba and Hon Ibrahim Isiaka.
The House noted that like most countries across the globe, Nigeria is passing through on the devastating effects of flood, which are caused by a combination of factors such as heavy rains, heavy precipitation, severe winds over water, unusual high tides, tsunamis, failure of dams retention ponds and the impacts of climate change, which makes flood control and management a perennial challenge.
Presenting the motion on the floor, Nwawuba said, “The House also notes that with each passing year, the impacts of flooding keeps getting worse, with damages to property, dangers to lives of humans and other species, traffic delay, interference with drainage and economic use of lands, interference with farming, structural damages to bridge bank lines, sewer lines, and other structures within floodways. Waterways navigation and hydroelectric power have also been impaired leading to colossal financial losses in trillions of Naira.
“The House is disturbed that the flood disaster has been identified as one of the fall outs of global climate change which we have all been collectively responsible for. This trend would continue and even go worse if we do not see the care of the environment as our individual and collective responsibility. The need to change our attitude towards the mother earth is of utmost concern if we really desire to put a check or control to these natural disasters that we are left to contend with. We have observed incident trends of late, amongst localities and even countries; it has become a very disturbing issue, the spate of flood risk exposure amongst vulnerable settlements and communities.
“The House is further disturbed that recent unpleasant experiences in Nigeria could have been avoided or mitigated if we clearly identified and recognized the peculiarity of risk we are exposed to, based on our geographical positioning.
“The House is worried about how we pay deaf ears to the sound and presence of risks associated with flooding, one thing is clear that they will surely occur whether we plan for them or not. But, Strategic Planning and adequate funding will help mitigate the effects and facilitate quick and better recovery of Lives, Properties, Economy and Overall Environment. With the public outcry of limited funds, reactive response should be changed to proactive response to increase effectiveness of management and reduce losses of life and properties.
“The House further notes that as far back as January 2022, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) warned of impending floods across most states in Nigeria especially flood prone areas and could continue until the end of November 2022 in many states across the nation.
“The House is aware that in 2012, 32 out of 36 states were affected by flooding, with 363 people killed, over 2.1 million people displaced, about seven million people affected and a total loss estimate of N2.6 trillion recorded.
“The House is further aware that in 2022, 33 out of 36 states and the FCT are affected, that is 92% of the entire country, over 600 people killed. Over 1.4 Million people displaced and over 2.5Million people in need of humanitarian assistance with over 60% of this number being children.
“The House is concerned that Nigeria appears to be unready for climate change with a ranking of 162 out of 180 countries in the environment performance index.
