EarthBeat from the National Catholic Reporter
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The Nigerian bishops have suggested the federal government expand a plan to combat flooding that Nigerians suffer each year.
In a Nov. 1 pastoral letter, the president of the bishops’ conference, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Owerri, said that in Nigeria, when tragic events occur, other people express their grief and then move on as if nothing had happened.
“We have a tendency to wait for the next crisis to wake up in another moment of lamentation. We are not proactive as a country in the face of flooding challenges,” he said. make plans and preparation. “
He pleaded with the government and citizens to be informed of other countries prone to herbal errors that want to invest, plan and be effective in handling such tragedies to lessen their negative effects.
In early October, Bishop Hyacinth Oroko Egbebo of Bomadi in the Niger Delta region raised considerations in a pastoral letter to the faithful of his diocese, saying he stood in solidarity with them after floods destroyed their homes and livelihoods.
Archbishop Ugorji said this year’s primary flooding was attributed to unusually heavy rains and the release of excess water from Cameroon’s Lagdo dam in mid-September. The floods affected an estimated 1. 4 million people in 27 states, with thousands of homes destroyed and several communities completely submerged. .
“There has been extensive destruction of infrastructure, farmland and businesses, as well as forced displacement of people, with consequent stress and emotional and mental trauma. In addition, many lost their lives,” he said.
He called on the government to publish policies and movements that impede land allocation and allocation structure and build on grass-based floodplains or stormwater routes. In addition, citizens should be discouraged from living in areas prone to severe flooding, he said.
“There is a need for ecological conversion and proper ecological education among our people to cope with long-term natural disasters. Let’s contribute to the coverage and preservation of the land, which is our common home,” he said.
The archbishop noted that the Dasin Hausa Dam in northeastern Nigeria, which was intended as a buffer for water overflow, began in 1982 and remains unfinished.
The government will have to invest to all degrees in flood prevention infrastructure, he said. He cited agencies such as the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency as vital facilities for flood control and Array.
“To be able to carry out those vital functions, those agencies want good enough funding, which will be released in time to allow them to implement the mandatory measures, acquire the right equipment, have interaction in skills and manpower education and other operational desires. before any crisis occurs,” he said.