Kebbi State Government has urged the international community to come to the urgent aid of flood victims in all the 21 LGAs of the state.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed Birnin Kebbi, made the call at a Press Conference on the devastating impact of the flood disaster.
He decried that 16 out of the 21 LGs were the worse hit, leaving 329,000 houses destroyed and 858,000 hectares of farmland washed away by the disaster.
According to him, some of the worst affected LGs were: Argungu, Birnin Kebbi, Ngaski, Jega, Augie, Yauri, Maiyama, Shanga, Koko-Besse and Gwandu, among others.
Birnin Kebbi added, “None of the 21 LGs was spared by this devastating flood and almost all households in the state were either directly or indirectly affected.
“This was in spite of all the proactive measures taken by the state government to stem the tide of the flood disaster.
“The State Government promptly acted upon the flood alerts earlier recieved from NIMET, NEMA and the Nigerian Hydrological Agency.”
According to the Commissioner, the disaster has hugely affected the livelihoods of the generality of the people of the state especially the rural areas.
He averred ‘ 7 victims were reportedly dead in Ngaski LGA,,8 in Maiyama,5 in Kalgo,7 in Jega and 2 in Birnin Kebbi local Government ‘.
He also stated that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of assorted farm produce had also been destroyed by the flood, hence impacting negatively on the state’s invaluable contributions to the nation’s food supply chain.
This, he lamented, is a bad omen for Nigeria’s food security as Kebbi State remains the indispensable hub of rice production in the country.
He said, “If an urgent support is not given to the affected farmers, there is an impending food scarcity in fhe state and the country in general.
“To prevent this impending doom, the victims should be assisted by well-meaning individuals and groups from within and outside the country.
“They should be assisted with assorted improved seeds and other inputs for them to engage in dry season faraming so as to empower them to bounce back.
“This will bolster food production, empower and have a multplier effects on Nigeria’s food supply chain.”
He recalled that the State Government has set up standing committees at the state and LGAs levels, with a view to assessing the extent of damages caused by the colossal flood disaster across the state.
The Commissioner said that the gesture was aimed at coming up with measures and actions to assist the flood victims.
He said, “But, due to the extent of damage caused by the disaster, there is the need for collective actions to assist the victims.
“Kebbi state government is doing its best in this direction but it needs the support of all and sundry, locally and internationally.”
The Commissioner emphasized that the committee established by the State Government, led by the Deputy Governor, Senator Umar Abubakar Tafida, is working tirelessly to alleviate the impact of the flood on the victims.
