The Ekiti State House of Assembly and the state’s traditional institution on Monday reiterated readiness to partner stakeholders in efforts to avert flood in the state as Ekiti had been listed among states to be ravaged by flood this year.
The Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Funminiyi Afuye and the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti, Oba Adejimi Adu, said they would give necessary support to groups and agencies in the forefront of the battle to prevent flood and lives and property.
They spoke in Ikere Ekiti during a sensitization campaign on flood preparedness and mitigation tagged ‘Flood Alert’, organized by Triple G Eco Revival Solution.
The event had in attendance officials of National Emergency Management Agency, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, Ekiti State Waste Management Agency, among others.
Afuye, who stated that a lot could be done to avert or mitigate flooding, said, “We as a legislative body will partner with groups, agencies and other stakeholders to achieve the goal of preventing flood disaster.
“This is a serious project and we must commend Triple G. We want more stakeholders to get involved in various aspects of governance so that we can have a balanced society. Everything should not be left to government. Government has been warning against throwing refuse into the canals.
Oba Adu, who lauded the awareness and advocacy moves of the group and other agencies, said the traditional institution would be a ready partner in the bid to redirecting poor refuse disposal habits to ensure flooding is averted.
The Founder, Triple G, Mrs Oluwaseyi Ebenezer, said the programme was “to educate people on the issue of environment, to let them know that a major cause of flood is indiscriminate and unhealthy disposal of waste and to disabuse people’s mind from the culture of dumping waste into the drainage.”
Ebenezar canvassed strengthening of the state laws on environment, saying, “We want the government to harness the laws to make them more effective and more enforceable. These will make us achieve a more sustainable environment in Ekiti State.
“Ikere as a community was seriously affected by flooding last year — it destroyed property, washed away farmlands, displaced people and affected the economy — we don’t want a repeat. The flooding being experienced at present in the North is red alert. Beside, Ikere has been identified as a flood-prone council this year, hence the need for awareness and advocacy here,” she said.
While the representative of NESREA State Coordinator, Gbade Ogunjimi, said most cases of flooding were human related hence the need for sensitisation, the NEMA Deputy Head of Operations, Ekiti Office in charge of Ekiti, Ondo and Osun states, Olanrewaju Kazeem, said the agency was stepping up the people’s awareness and had as well put all the relevant bodies and agencies on the alert following the prediction by Nigerian Meterological Service that parts of Ekiti would be ravaged by flood this year.