On Tuesday, Bola Tinubu gave the go-ahead for an immediate plan of action to stop the oncoming floods across the nation. This was revealed in a statement from Stanley Nkwocha, the senior special assistant to the president on media and communications in the office of the vice president.
The statement briefly reads, “To this effect, he (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) has appointed Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi as the chairman of a committee to produce a road map to harmonize the recent National Economic Council (NEC) report on floods and the 2022 National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, as well as all other national reports on floods. The deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, will serve as the vice chairman of the committee, which is expected to submit its recommendations in seven days.”
During the emergency meeting, Vice President Kashim Shittima gave a commanding order to committees to resume work with immediate effect.
“Based on the submissions by the director-general of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), the situation is not that terrible, but to be forewarned is to be forearmed. The submissions by the other relevant stakeholders are equally poignant, and we can’t afford to take chances.”
Shettima continues, “Though the situation is not as bad as we might think, we need to set up a committee so that the report of the Presidential Committee and the 2022 Federal Executive Council-approved broad preparedness plan should be harmonised and implemented immediately.”
The vice president explains, “I deliberately invited the NEDC and NDDC so that with whatever resources that NEMA has, they have to be released to the states so that they can start making preparations for any eventuality. Based on the presidential directive, I will meet with the chief executives of the NEDC and NDDC for the states that are under their coverage. There should be interventions from them. For NEDC, they can take care of Taraba, Bauchi, and Adamawa states. For NDDC, they can take care of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, and Cross River states.”