Victor Ezeja
Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi has urged the Nigerian government to declare a state of emergency on flooding and rollout intervention modalities to address the challenges posed by the natural disaster.
The floods, caused by heavy rain and over flowing waterways, have ravaged many parts of Nigeria in the last two months, raising humanitarian concerns as a result of death of people and displacement of many, coupled with the destruction of properties.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAccording to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), flood has killed 603 persons and affected over 2.5 million in over 39 states across Nigeria.
The Labour Party presidential candidate, recently in Abuja, announced suspension of his presidential campaign in order to first visit states affected by the floods and empathise with the victims.
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Obi visited Benue State on Thursday where met with flood victims at IDPs camps in different parts of the parts of the state and donated N5 million.
In continuation of the gesture, he visited Anambra and Bayelsa States on Saturday to commiserate with victims of the floods.
In Anambra, he visited Ogbaru Local Government Area, parts of Anambra East such as Umueri and also took an arial tour of other parts of the state affected by the floods to ascertain the level of impact.
In a post on his verified Twitter handle, Obi wondered why the federal government is still waiting.
He wrote “I’m still wondering why the FGN have not formally declared a flood emergency and intervention modalities.”
Obi who was paddled in a local canoe in the flood areas, stated that he observed many houses were sumerged to the roof levels, adding that the Infrastructural damage is extensive and would take time to rebuild.
“In commiserating with the people, I promised that my needs assessment visit will help in determining recommendations to Federal and donor agencies on priority recovery projects,” Obi tweeted on Saturday night.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
