From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Nigerian Red Cross Society, Edo State Branch, has said that Bayelsa, Edo, Anambra State are among the 12 states to benefit from the Nigerian Red Cross Flood Resilience Project sponsored by the Italian government.
The benefiting states are, Edo, Gombe, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Enugu, Bornu, Ogun, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Niger and Lagos.
Mr. Wilson Ekhomogiazin, Branch Secretary, Nigerian Red Cross Society, Edo State chapter, disclosed this in Benin during a one day stakeholders’ engagement on flooding with the theme: Flood response, recovery and resilience.
He said from the 12 states, 400,000 households had been listed to benefit from the project. Mr. Ekhomogiazin noted that in 2024, flood impacted negatively on one million Nigerians and that steps were being taken to mitigate this year’s flood on Nigerians especially those living in flood prone areas of the country.
The state chairman of the association, Pastor Monday Edogiawerie, said Nigerian Red Cross Society was set to implement the Flood Resilience Project in two selected local government areas in the state. According Edogiawerie, the key components of the Flood Resilience Project include training of 50 community volunteers on preparedness, Rapid Response and Recovery, continues rainfall and water level monitoring, activation of early warning and early action protocols, rehabilitation of public WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) infrastructure, pre-positioning of shelter materials to affected households, needs and shelter assessment and strengthen of community-based resilience.
Edogiawerie added that the Edo State Branch would further engage 25 community volunteers from Illushi, Odegume, Ifeku Island and Okpokporo community in Esan South East LGA and another 25 from Udaba, Anegbete, Udochi and Ukpeku-Ole Communities from Etsako Central LGA for the project.
Proffering solution to the perennial flood problem in the state, the Assistant Chief Information Officer, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Benin, Mr. Joseph Akpofabe, called on the state government to muster the political will to address the issues by pulling down houses built on waterways, noting that, without that, the problem will persist because water will certainly finds its way.