Bauchi State Governor, Bala Muhammed, has lamented the impact of flooding incidents recently in the country, saying it poses a major challenge to food security in the country.
This is as he disclosed the National Economic Council has asked states affected by floods to submit damage reports by Monday, September 09, 2024.
Muhammed, disclosed this while addressing State House Correspondents, following the NEC meeting held at the Presidential Villa, presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday.
He said participants also discussed the release of N3 billion by the Federal Government to support flood relief efforts, noting that the floods had particularly affected the northeast, severing critical damage to routes between Kano and Maiduguri and resulting in loss of infrastructure such as schools and farmlands.
Mohammed said the Council also emphasised the urgent need for enhanced food security measures, stating that submerged farmlands will impact harvest yields.
“The flood was more devastating along the northeast axis where a major artery between Kano and Maiduguri has been cut off with devastating effects on households, schools, bridges and other means of livelihood.
“Lives were lost and a lot of properties were also destroyed. Of course, that has provided a big challenge to us as a government and as a people in our states because we need to provide more food security,” he said.
He added “Already, farmlands are submerged, and therefore, there’s a need for collaboration between all the tiers of government to ensure food security. There’s a need for planning, collaboration and interaction to do that during the harvest time because the bumper harvest may not be as envisaged.
“So the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and all our subnational ministries are supposed to collaborate and ensure that something comprehensive is done.”
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Meanwhile, the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, said the Council reconstituted the flood committee with its new members as the governors of Kogi, Oyo, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Bayelsa and Jigawa states.
Others are the Minister of Water Resources, Minister of State for Water Resources, Minister of State for Environment, Director General of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Director-General, of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Director-General, of National Water Resources Institute, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, National Inland Waterways Authority, Managing Director, North East Development Commission, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency, and Director-General, New Nigeria Development Company Limited.