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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Former governor of Bayelsa State and Senator representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, has condemned in strong terms the unscientific assessment of the devastating effect of the 2022 flood in Bayelsa State.
Senator Dickson, a two term Governor of the State, was reacting to recent comments attributed to the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu and his counterpart in the Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Safiya Farouk.
Senator Dickson described the assessments reports attributed to the ministers as insensitive, disrespectful and offensive not only to Bayelsa or the Ijaw nation but the people of all states affected by the flood.
He noted that while communities and indeed the entire state in the case of Bayelsa are submerged with critical infrastructure and people’s sources of livelihood destroyed, the Federal Government has not organized any meaningful relief exercise for the people.
The Senator stressed that the public utterances of the two ministers are not encouraging but have continued to aggravate the pains and worries of the people.
He condemned the attempts to downplay the crushing effect of the flood on the people and urged the ministers to withdraw the statements and take the necessary steps to support the various state governments and individuals to bring succour to the embattled people
According to him the curious mind set seems to explain why there has been no serious Federal Government response and intervention in the debilitating flood especially in Bayelsa and therefore urged the ministers to visit Bayelsa and others, saying the situation would shock them.
He said, “Creating the impression that a whole state whose road networks have been cut off and the entire state submerged is not among the ten most affected by this flood is insulting and is indeed the height of insensitivity that any government official can show.
“And if that is the mind-set of the President or Federal Government, may be that explain why there has been no serious Federal response and intervention.
“I condemn this statements and I urge them to withdraw them and come to the rescue not just of Bayelsa state but all the affected states .They should work and support the state government and the efforts of individuals.
“To say that communities and Local Governments and the entire Bayelsa that is submerged are not as seriously impacted is not an honest assessment. It is an arbitrary assessment and even if there’s one death or people submerged anywhere, it should be of concern to the Federal Government in solving this problem and finding a solution rather than making a dubious assessment and so on.
“The Federal Government, the ministers and disaster management agencies should visit the affected areas and see things for themselves and they’ll be shocked at the level of devastation.
