Nigerian federal government glamed for flood woes

Kingsley Adegboye And Ebun Sessou in AllAfrica.com via the Vanguard (Nigeria): Experts and environment stakeholders have continued to blame the Federal Government for the flood currently ravaging the nation. At different occasions, they have said that the consequence of floods being experienced in the flood-prone states of the federation could have been prevented to a great extent if government had listened to warnings and advice by experts to prepare for climate change which has become a reality.

The experts accused the Federal Government of being insensitive to the plight of the people by not putting appropriate measures in place to tackle the challenges of climate change as other nations have done.

At a conference of the Nigerian Academy of Science in Lagos last week on the forthcoming Annual Meeting of African Science Academics AMASA-8, which is billed to take place in November, the president of the Academy, Prof. Ibidapo Obe who decried government's nonchalant attitude towards the reality of the present problem, said climate change had been predicted 15 years ago without any step taken to stem its anticipated impact.

Also, the immediate past Commissioner for Environment in Lagos State, Mr. Muiz Banire, had noted at a forum organised by the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building NIOB, recently that the Federal Government over the years turned deaf ears to all the entreaties on her to build dams to store excess storm water and dredge rivers, especially Niger and Benue rivers to create cavity for capacity to hold water....

The Benue River in Nigeria