The Governor of Oyo state, Engineer Seyi Makinde has said the state government has gone on aggressive sensitization to let people see the effect of flood, prepare people to prepare for the rainy season and its attendant consequences.
The governor who was represented by his deputy, Engineer Rauf Olaniyan at the 2020 NEMA Flood Advocacy visit held at the governors office, Agodi, Ibadan, assured that the people have enough information on the right things to do to reduce the risk of flooding.
He said despite that prediction can be done, it is not always perfect, and sensitization has to be done in all areas to prepare people for a likely occurrence even if their areas are not a part of the predicted flood prone areas.
He assured that the length and breadth of Oyo state is fully aware because lots of media messages have been relayed to prepare people from local government to local government.
“Also, most areas are concretised and the rainfall is a run-off, that is, it does not penetrate into the soil thus reducing the risk of erosion in those areas. And the state is adequately prepared for the rainy season”.
He assured the agency that as part of the government’s collaboration with NEMA, the state is working towards donating a more conducive office space to the agency.
The NEMA Director General, Air Vice-Marshal Mohammed A. Mohammed who was represented by the Director of Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Edward Adedokun, said the recurrent flood disasters have been blamed on climate change, but pointed that the people and government must take responsibility by adhering to warning alerts, early preparations and timely response.
He stated that this prompted the agency to pay an advocacy visit to Oyo to discuss the outcome of 2020 flood outlook and rainfall prediction reports adding that Ona-Ara, Lagelu, Oyo East, Kajola, Egbeda, Ogbomosho South, Ibarapa North, Ibadan Southwest, Ibadan Northwest and Ibadan Southeast Local Government Areas are all metioned as flood prone areas in the reports.
The director general appealed to the state government to take proactive and mitigating measures in addressing SEMA and other response agencies to spell out their preparation plans, enlighten the public especially vulnerable communities on how to move to safe ground in emergencies, desilting river channels and canals, clearing drainages for free flow of water, and distributing relief materials for flood victims.
He assured the state government that they will work together to ensure that they respite to victims of disasters.
