Dr. Mohammed Abdullahi, the Minister of Environment has unveiled the strategies and guidelines for the implementation of Projects for Erosion/Flood Control in the country.
Dr Abdullahi said that despite the shared responsibility in the overall effort to stem the incessant menace of annual flood disasters, he said the Federal Government has shown leadership by preparing a National Policy on Erosion and Flood Control.
According to him, the document consists of the National Policy, Action Plan and Technical Guidelines that guide the implementation of Erosion/Flood Control Projects in the country.
He said that the clearly states the responsibility of the three tiers of the government.
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“The Ministry is a major Stakeholder on the Presidential Committee of the National Action Plan for Prevention of Flood Disaster in Nigeria and is deploying the following strategies to mitigate flooding;
“Established Web-Based Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) at locations (towns/cities) » Developed safeguards to operationalize action on areas that require movement or evacuation/resettlement » Establishment of community-based waste management recycling facilities in flood-prone areas across the country.
In view of the impact of climate change on the intensity of flash floods especially in urban cities, the minister said the effort is made by the administration to “strengthen climate change adaptation and resilience in flood-prone areas through the engagement of public institutions and communities that have greater skills, resources and capacity to adapt to more frequent and severe urban flooding.
”Restoration of major forest reserves to improve livelihood mitigate the impact of climate change by establishing activities that are environmentally friendly and can promote and enhance the protection of the area from encroachment.”
On Ogoni Clean up he disclosed that remediation of 21 sites covering about 230 hectares out of the 65 sites reported in the UNEP report, has been accomplished
He said the fact sheet has assessed additional 213 grids consisting of 200x200m: per grid of shorelines which will pave for the actual Clean-up and remediation of 635 Ha contaminated Shorelines, and planting of mangrove seedlings/propagules of cleaned-up shorelines.
Other achievements in the cleanup include the construction of six water supply schemes with a capacity of Supplying 2: of potable water per day to communities across the four LGAs Ogoniland.
He listed several modest achievements of the ministry including the generation of N8.6 billion through various interventions of agencies under the ministry.
