IDP Camp In Ahoada West LGA, Rivers State, After His Inspection Of Flooded Areas

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WE WILL WORK WITH STATE GOVTS TO SUPPORT YOU, VP OSINBAJO TELLS FLOOD VICTIMS IN RIVERS STATE

REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE IDP CAMP IN AHOADA WEST LGA, RIVERS STATE, AFTER HIS INSPECTION OF FLOODED AREAS IN RIVERS STATE ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018. 

PROTOCOL

I want to, first of all, thank you for the very warm welcome.  Your Royal Majesty, thank you in particular for the welcome.

Just as we were coming here we overflew the whole of Ahoada West and we saw so much of the damage and so much of the disaster.  Most of the homes, most of the villages are underwater and it is very clear that this is a disaster of enormous proportion.  There is no doubt at all that there is a need for immediate intervention and I want to thank the state government for what they have done so far, especially the state SEMA for what they have done so far in trying to contain the problem.

Fortunately, NEMA has also been working very hard alongside the state SEMA and I am here not just with the Minister of Environment but also the DG of NEMA to see for ourselves and to be able to assess all of the damage and to understand the nature and enormity of this disaster so that we can react appropriately.  I am glad to say to you the federal government will give all the  support and the succour that is necessary to ensure not only that you are as comfortable as possible in the circumstances here but more importantly that you are resettled properly when in the next few weeks, by the Grace of God, you are able to go back home and resettle.

That resettlement phase is very important for us because we think that is the longer lasting of what the interventions of the federal government would be.  We will be talking to the state government to see how we can effectively work with the state government to resettle all of you back in your homes and also plan for the future because we think that this cycle of flooding must not be allowed to continue. There must be a way of checking these constant cycles of flooding.

Of course, I’m sure that many of you know that in 2012 it was even possibly more than this.  But here we are here again six years in more or less the same situation.  We must be able to contain this.  We must be able to prevent this from happening.

Part of what we have to do is to build more canals.  We also need to dredge.  We have to dredge these rivers so that the rivers themselves are not overflowing all the time.  And we have to ensure that the estuaries and other small bodies of water that we don’t put solid waste in them so that these waters can move.  All of these are our responsibilities of government as well as our own responsibilities as citizens.  But you can be sure that we are going to stand with you and we will walk with you every inch of the way to make sure that you are taken care of now but also when you have to go back home.  Then, we have to take as I said of the long-term effect of this.

So, I want to thank you again and I want to say that despite all of the difficulties you have gone through, I’m extremely proud of you as your vice president and I know that the president who has asked me to come here is also extremely proud of the strong spirit that you have shown.  Despite this disaster, despite the displacement, I see that people are confident, people are strong.  You are not giving up.  You are not mourning.   You are in good shape.  And the Lord God Almighty will help you and will help the government to be able to be of the best help possible to you as well.