President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday ordered heads of all federal government ministries, departments and agencies whose functions are relevant to flood prevention and control to ensure that every necessary action is taken to prevent a recurrence of the floods which wreaked havoc in many parts of the country last year.
He gave the warning while addressing ministers and officials at a meeting which he called at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to review ongoing flood containment measures.
The President warned that he will not tolerate any excuses for a repeat of the flooding disasters which displaced various communities across the country in 2012.
“We have no excuse to be caught unprepared again after the floods of last year,” the President said, adding that he expected all relevant MDAs to be very proactive in speedily implementing required flood prevention and management measures.
President Jonathan also directed the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Flood Prevention and Control which includes the Ministers of Environment, National Planning, Water Resources, Finance, Health, Transport and Aviation to establish effective liaison with governors of all flood-prone states and ensure that there is proper coordination between federal agencies and the states in the implementation of flood control measures.
He also stressed the need for greater public enlightenment and advocacy to ensure compliance with measures that have been evolved to prevent a recurrence of devastating floods across the country.
A technical team established by the Inter-Ministerial Committee presented a National Climate and Flood Control Framework to the President which detailed short term, mid-term and long term measures recommended to solve the problem of perennial flooding in parts of the country.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency also informed the President that it was constantly monitoring soil moisture saturation across the country since the onset of the raining season, saying that its real time monitoring of weather conditions will enable the agency to give early warning of floods.
