Governor Bello: of Kogi State

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) is collaborating with the Kogi Government to explore the shorelines of River Niger for the benefit of the people of the state and the country.

The Agency’s Director-General, NIHSA, Mr Moses Beckley, said this in Lokoja on Sunday after jointly exploring shoreline open spaces and some other spots along River Niger with the team of Kogi Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

Beckley told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he came to Lokoja with his team to see how the state and the agency could take advantage of the excess waters in the confluence state for exploration.

He said the team had gone round the sites which had natural beauty scenery and some other possibilities along the River Niger that could be maximised and exploited for the benefit of the people.

“We are also here in the light of the flooding that characterises this environment, and we have deliberated on how to come up with a conference on climate change, knowing fully well how it has affected water resources potential.

“We are looking at all of these possibilities so that we can synergise and help the state to see how the water resources can be maximised for socio-economic benefits of the people and Nigeria,” he said.

The director-general advised the people to ensure that their surroundings were cleared and well drained.

He also urged governments to ensure that people obeyed rules of town planning and environmental laws.

“Presently, flood has been recorded in close to about 20 local government areas in 13 out of 34 states earlier predicted by NIHSA.

Mrs Rosemary Osikoya, the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, told NAN that the government was collaborating with relevant agencies in the area of annual flooding, climate change, shoreline exploration, social recreational areas, coastline structure and de-silting of rivers.

Osikoya said the major one was the impending flood as informed by partners that the 2012 cycle of flood occurred in every five years, and was due to have come again this year.

She said that the Department of Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment had convened a meeting with the World Bank in February where they were informed that one of the quickest solutions to flood in Kogi was the construction of Dam.

“Beyond dam is the issue of water reservoir where water is strategically managed to divert some of it into a lake like you have in ‘Jabi Lake’, that is why we went to see the site along River Niger at Jimgbe axis.

“This is because during the dry season it was a Sandy Beach and the idea of having a beach just less than two hour-drive from Abuja is not a Lokoja beach anymore but a Nigerian thing.

“So, we are happy that NIHSA is partnering with us as part of the recent declaration of the state of emergency on the environment by Gov. Yahaya Bello on July 14, at the special State Executive Council meeting.

“We are engaging our stakeholders at the federal and international levels to look at the cross-cutting issues, which was part of the visit by NEMA to the state on Friday.

“We hope to do more of assessment of the 14 flooding incidences we have so far experienced in Kogi this season; but this is not the peak of our season.

“So, these are all plans for the future and some of them have immediate consequences,” the commissioner said.

(NAN)