……. as Emir Gwandu call for planting of trees
From Olanrewaju Lawal,Birnin Kebbi
The Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), has promised to shoulder 60 percentage cost of prevention measures on flooding taken by the Local Government Areas or communities within the Commission’s jurisdiction.
The Managing Director of the Commission, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq-Yelwa, stated this at the 2023 stakeholders’ meeting on flood mitigation and other related issues in the state organised by the commission in Birnin Kebbi.
Yelwa, who explained that the purpose of organised a Stakeholders meeting was to brainstorm on the proactive measures to mitigate the possible effects of floods in 14 flood- prone local government areas in Kebbi, said that they also want to look at the major communities that had suffered floods in the pass five years.
“But one commitment I want to make here and now is, we are prepared to partner with any Local Government that has a budget for the control of erosion, flood and drainages. When we check the design and the bills and we are satisfied, we are prepared to finance such projects by 60 per cent but they must also contribute their 40 per cent too.
“Once they are able to do that we are prepared to pay 60 per cent on behalf of the Commission so that our communities will feel the impact of our presence and we also feel the impact of the partnership between the Local Government and HYPPADEC”, the MD said.
He noted that, the Commission also determined to get to the genesis of frequent flooding in the hydro electric areas.
According to him, “We want to know what causes the floods ,and what we can do to mitigate the frequent occurrences. We have identified with the role play by stakeholders, hence we will do all what it takes to reduce the hardships faced by the communities in the state.
“We also realised the importance of stakeholders, and we want to share in their experience and knowledge.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers, the Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Muhammad Bashar,represented by the Wazirin Gwandu,Alhaji Abdullahi Umar, suggested that afforestation policies and programmes where planting of trees are encouraged should be revisited by both the Federal and State Governments.
He noted that, the tree plantations would prevent desertification, enhance ecological system stressed that those in custody of dams should not be only releasing water during raining season ,rather,they should always consider period when rivers were at the lowest levels.
He added that bringing the traditional rulers and local government council chairmen was a good idea saying that, “these people are the custodian of our culture and tradition as well as verse in sundry knowledge of all nooks and crannies of the state,” he said.
In his remark, the state Commissioner for Environment and Solid Minerals, Alhaji Hayatuddeen Bawa, commended HYPPADEC for organising the meeting, stressed that, it was critical towards solving problems of flood in the state.
“The presence of numerous rivers in the state, particularly the River Niger, River Rima, and River Kah, demonstrates that the state is extremely vulnerable to flooding.
“The River Niger stretches for 15 kilometers along the Nigeria-Niger border, with a surface area of approximately 87 hectares at Yelwa alone, whereas the Rima River originates in Sokoto State and flows through Augie Local Government Area, covering approximately 252,000 hectares with several tributaries.
“The Zamfara River flows through Jega before joining the Rima River in Bunza, covering an area of approximately 200,000 hectares.
“The water comes from the Zamfara River and flows down to Jega LGA, Maiyama LGA, Kalgo LGA, Bunza, and Suru. The people who live near these river axes usually suffer severe flooding,” he said.
Earlier, the Head of Sokoto Operations Office, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Aliyu Kafindangi, said the agency had commenced activities based on the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET)’s prediction of possible flood in the 14 local government flood-, prone areas of 2023 in the state.
“An intensive awareness campaign should be embarked upon in those flood- prone areas for us to avert the flood. We have started campaigns early this year, as we are ready for early warning and early action.
“We will bombard every citizen, state, and local government with this information as we want them to know that it is serious. We will not keep quiet. We want them to know that there will be a flood this year,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Director of SEMA in the state, Alhaji Rabi’u Abbas-Kamba, observed that most of the floods in previous years were caused by the release of water from dams in Goronyo and Bakalori, in Sokoto and Niger states.
“We have been meeting with the dams’ managers and we were told that the dams could not withstand the volumes of water as they have not been dredged for many years,” he said.
Abbas-Kamba urged the authorities concerned to ensure the dredging of the dams as part of measure to mitigate the flood in the state.
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