Author: The Nation

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says no fewer than 33,983 persons are already affected by the 2023 flooding in different parts of the country.

Hajiya Fatima Kasim, Director, Planning, Research and Forecasting, NEMA, said this at the Emergency Coordination Forum Meeting, on Thursday in Abuja.

She said that flooding which had become a yearly occurrence in the country, is usually caused by various factors which include improper building and infrastructure design and construction.

She listed other factors to include; poor drainage system, poor solid waste management, harmful land-use practices such as deforestation and climate change, among others.

She said that the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction released by NiMet earlier in the year predicted a normal to above-normal rainfall patterns for the country.

She added that the Annual Flood Outlook forecasted by NIHSA also predicted that 178 local government areas in 32 states and FCT are within the high flood risk areas.

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She stated that in the last seven months, some data had been collated by the agency on the figure of people affected so far by flood disasters in the country.

“As at Aug. 9, the following data has been collated in respect of 2023 flooding.

“Number of states affected – 10 states; Number of persons affected – 33,983; Number of persons displaced – 7,353; Number of persons injured – 75; Number of deaths – 5; Number of houses totally damaged – 1,679 and Farmlands totally damaged – 866 hectares,” she said.

Earlier in his remarks, Mr Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General, NEMA, said the agency deemed it fit to resuscitate the Emergency Coordination Forum meeting to give adequate attention to disaster management.

“The emergency coordination forum is an avenue for stakeholders to come together to discuss humanitarian challenges being faced by the citizens as a result of disasters and emergencies.

“This is to foster partnership, collaboration and cooperation among relevant stakeholders in emergency management in the country,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Clement Nze, Director-General, NIHSA, added that so far not less than 20 states and the FCT had experienced one degree of flooding or the other.

He added that over 46 LGAs had also been affected and several casualties recorded and houses submerged.

He said that most of the flood incidents recorded so far were as a result of overflow of silted rivers, channels and poor or blocked drainage systems.

He added that these resulted from localised rainfall that generated from flash and urban flooding in the urban areas and their metropolis.

Read Also: Flood: NEMA urges Adamawa residents to relocate to safer areas

On his part, Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that the NBS 2022 flood assessment exercise recorded a high impact of flooding on agriculture and properties.

“The NBS Flood Assessment exercise in collaboration with NEMA and UNDP, gathered information on flood-affected areas and the socio-economic consequences.

“Six states were assessed: Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Jigawa, Kogi, and Nasarawa, with Jigawa having the highest percentage of affected households, which is 90.7 per cent.

“The assessment focused on four key indicators: impact on businesses, food availability, health effects, and access to basic services.

“The report showed that the consequences of the flooding on agriculture and properties was very significant,” he said.

(NAN)

Seven persons were seriously injured Thursday in an auto accident in Nwagu junction, Agulu, Anaocha local government area of Anambra State.

The accident involved a shuttle bus heading to Ekwuluobia with the seven passengers on board, was reportedly caused by a team of illegal revenue agents. 

According to an eyewitness, the driver of the bus was fleeing from the revenue agents when he suddenly lost control after one of the agents threw a heavy stone on him, resulting to the somersaulting of the vehicle.

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He said: “The bus was one of those the illegal revenue team invaded at Nwagu Junction Agulu.

“While they were pursuing the bus, one of the touts threw a heavy stone on the driver. He suddenly lost control of the bus and it veered off the road and somersaulted. 

“All the passengers on board were left with different degrees of injuries while the driver is in a critical condition.”

Reacting, Transition Committee Chairman of Anaocha local government area, Gerald Ozoh condemned activities of illegal revenue agents in the area. 

Ozoh, who visited the crash scene, said Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s government was not in support of any form of illegal revenue collection, urging residents to join government in stopping the act. 

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He announced temporary ban on collection of all forms of revenue within the council until proper investigation conducted to ascertain the real revenue agents of government. 

While revealing that one person has been arrested in connection with the crash, Ozoh charged motorists plying the area to be law abiding and report activities of any revenue agent within the council to his office.

“An investigation is being carried out by the police in the council area to identify those involved in the act that led to the accident,” he said.

The management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) and its in-house electricity workers’ unions have signed a new condition of service to improve employees wellbeing and productivity.

Speaking at the signing ceremony at IBEDC office, Ibadan, on Thursday, the Managing Director, IBEDC, Mr Kingsley Achife, said the new condition of service had been carefully drafted.

Achife said the new condition of service would create harmonious balance between management’s goal and employees wellbeing.

He noted that the Electricity Act signed by President Bola Tinubu would bring complexity of business environment and competition in the industry.

Achife, however, urged the workers to out in their best for mutual benefits of IBEDC and the employees.

He added that the new condition of service captured a lot of things such as each employee service, exit package and other non financial benefits to improve the wellbeing of all IBEDC employees.

“We understand that the operating environment for workers is becoming more harsher, the salary has been increased by 25 per cent, what management want from staff is more hard work and partnership so that there will be enough money to support them as it’s supposed to be.

“The pallative package for the employees is going to be dependent on our performance, we must strive to be a viable company, be able to pay generation company and have surplus to support staff when and where necessary,” he said.

In his response, the President, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Mr Martin Uzoegwu, said the new document gives workers confidence of job security which would go a long way to cement a relationship and partnership between IBEDC and the labour.

Uzoegwu urged IBEDC to ensure that all section of the new condition of service which was co-authored by the union and IBEDC management was implemented effectively.

He charged IBEDC management to always carry unions along in all its policy formulation and implementation.

Uzoegwu noted that outsourcing and casualisation in the work environment threatened employees job and had negative effects on the company’s operations.

According to him, a casual staff with low pay can do anything illegal to survive.

“The last condition of service was signed in 2017 and by procedure it supposed to be every three years, we are unable to carry out its review due to some challenges.

“We thank God that after two years of processing new one, we are able to sign new condition of service today.

“We also appreciate the effort of the management of IBEDC to ensure that this collective bargaining agreement is signed and sealed.

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“The new condition of service spells out benefits of employees, dos and don’t, welfare package and necessary disciplinary actions to check theft and other gross misconduct among others,” he said.

Also, the President, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Mr Benedict Chika, called on the IBEDC management to make staff welfare a priority due to the present economy hardship in the country.

This, he said, would serve as a motivation for the employees to improve their level of productivity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured signing of the new condition of service by the leaders of the unions and the management of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.

(NAN)

Former Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Según Awolowo, has appealed to financial institutions to support Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and encourage them to participate in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 

Awolowo stated this in his goodwill message at the Zenith Bank Non-Oil Export Seminar in Lagos. 

He gave an in-depth description of the numerous opportunities offered by the AfCFTA, including those in the automotive, agricultural, and agroprocessing, pharmaceutical, transportation, and logistics industries. 

Awolowo, who is the Secretary, National Action Committee AfCFTA, explained that with 1.3 billion people spread across 55 countries and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$3.4 trillion, there are many opportunities for Nigeria to benefit economically and socially from the AfCTA, including the potential for future infrastructure improvements and the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers to cross-border trade. 

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He recalled that in 2015 during the first seminar, he presented what he called the newly constructed zero oil plan, an economic blueprint, for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy, emphasizing the need for Nigeria to remain resilient in a global economy. 

He said that during his tenure as the Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council’s, they had identified 22 products for which Nigeria needed to improve production levels in order to earn at least $30 billion yearly. 

Speaking on the theme: “Nigerian Non-Oil Export Industry; The present and the future”, Awolowo said: “The theme inherently poses two questions; firstly, what is the present? Secondly, what is the future? From my vantage the answer to these questions is simply; an ambitious drive to rapidly increase the volume of Intra-African Trade, under (AfCFTA). 

He maintained that there is an increase in demand for both professional services facilitated by information technology and those that are not.