The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lokoja

  • Contractor summoned over N4.3b Lokoja project

    The Managing Director,  Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Hajiya Inna Maryam Ciroma, has summoned the contractor handling the dredging of the Lokoja River Port to a meeting to explain why the job has not been completed.

    Speaking with reporters after the facility tour in Lagos yesterday, the newly appointed NIWA boss noted the contract for the dredging of the river was awarded at the cost of N4.3billion by the Federal Government and wondered why the work was moving at snail speed.

    She attributed the low activities at the port to the just commissioned Onitsha port and non-completion of the work going on in Lokoja. She urged the contractor to fast-track the completion of its job to boost NIWA’s revenue.

    Noting that funding was a major problem confronting the agency, she said the organization generated N1.66billion last year.

     

  • Star Music Trek Top artistes storm Lokoja

    FROM the onset, they promised to rock Lokoja even better that they did Lagos. Those who attended the show would attest to the fact that superstar artistes performing at the 2nd leg of the Star Music Trek which held on June 15th 2013 in Lokoja lived up to their billing.

    The second leg of the annual Star Music Trek concert featured high octave performances from MI, J Martins, Ice Prince, Dr Sid, Naeto C, Jukebox and others, was rated by fans as being undeniably the biggest concert in Lokoja in 2013.

    Excited fans who came from Lokoja and its surrounding cities including Jos and Abuja were treated to some of the hottest music in Nigeria from winners of Star Quest Nigeria. Jukebox, hip hop Mavin super act, Dr Sid, prolific rapper and entertainer, Naeto C, multi award winning artiste, Ice Prince, Africa’s number one rapper, MI, multi award winning artiste, JMartins, as well as other local Lokoja talents.

    Talented rapper, Naeto C confesses; “This is my first time in Lokoja and I’m really happy to be here.” His performance drew fans in a rush from all corners of the stadium who were itching to catch a glimpse of him.

    “It doesn’t get any better than this,” noted MI, as he worked the crowd to fever pitch in his characteristic manner. “You guys make the effort we put into making these concerts a tremendous success, worth it.”

    With an exciting live band, J Martins offered his signature powerful performance and also managed to stun a loyal fan, Musa Isa, as well as the entire audience with a surprise gift to him of a watch valued at over $10,000. Music lovers were seen dancing and singing along to the hit makers throughout the night with many clutching and exchanging concert memorabilia.

    To wrap up the night was multi award winning rapper, entertainer and label executive, MI, who’s usual mix high octane performances laced with humour and panache proved a superb finish to the evening.

    Other artistes who will be performing at the nationwide event include 2face, D’banj, Psquare, Timaya, Wande Coal, Obesere, Mr. Raw, Dr Sid, J Martins, Naeto C, Tiwa Savage, Sheyi Shey, and many others. Music fans in Aba, Abeokuta, Agege, Asaba, Enugu, Nnewi, Owerri and Surulere are not left out as the concert will also tour these cities over the next two months.

    The Star Music Trek will be concluded with a major finale on August 10th at National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

  • Wada arrives in Lokoja

    Governor Idris Wada yesterday arrived in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, after two months of medical treatment in Abuja.

    The governor, who arrived at 4:25 pm, moved to the podium to address a crowd, who came to welcome him at the Government House in Lokoja.

    He was involved in an accident last December 28 on the Ajaokuta Road. His Aide- de-Camp (ADC) Idris Mohammed died in the auto crash.

    The governor walked into the Government House without the aid of crutches or walking stick. He wore an immaculate white dress (Agbada) and addressed the crowd.

    Wada thanked the people for their support during his travail and apologised for arriving a few minutes before the appointed time.

  • Agency alerts Lokoja residents to presence of killer pythons

    The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has alerted residents of Lokoja in Kogi to the presence of big pythons in communities along the bank of the River Niger.

    In a newsletter yesterday in Lokoja, the state capital, the agency said large pythons and other dangerous reptiles had been washed off the bank of the river, following the recent floods in the state.

    It said: “In fact, large pythons have already been washed off the banks of River Niger following the flooding.”

    NIWA said its warning was based on what environmentalists and marine experts said.

    It warned flood victims to be careful in their attempt to recover their homes and personal effects.

    NIWA attached a picture of one large python, killed at the bank of the river by some of its officials.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NIWA’s warning came at a time the floods were receding and people were returning to their submerged homes to recover their property.

    It was, however, learnt that some of the victims were apprehensive that pythons and other dangerous reptiles might have found a new abode in their homes.

    In Kpat, Adankolo, Gadumo, Kabawa and other affected areas, some residents confirmed the influx of pythons, crocodiles, snakes and other reptiles in the communities.

    In the newsletter,NIWA also confirmed that it provided seven boats, jackets and other materials that were deployed for the rescue of trapped flood victims at Ibaji Local Government Area and other parts of the state.

    The newsletter said NIWA’s Managing Director Alhaji Aminu Yar ‘dua joined the rescue team, which comprised the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), Red Cross, Kogi State Emergency Management Agency (KOSEMA) and officials of the Kogi State Ministry of Environment, to rescue flood victims at Ibaji.

     

  • A nation under water

    A nation under water

    It was perhaps just as well that the Federal Government declared several weeks ago that Nigeria’s 52nd independence anniversary would be observed, again, on a “low key.”

    Nigeria is celebrating its National Day literally under water. “Low key” doesn’t get lower than that.

    Those of a decidedly malignant disposition, whom we shall always have among us, may even see the whole thing – the encircling waters and the objects drifting listlessly in the deluge – as an apt metaphor for the national condition.

    From the parched Sahel in the grip of the furiously retreating Sahara desert to the mangrove swamps of the Atlantic, a vast swathe of Nigeria is under water. Swollen by record rainfall and by water said to have been released from dams in neighbouring Cameroun to avoid a looming disaster, Nigeria’s major rivers, the Niger and the Benue, rage as never before, swallowing up houses and washing away bridges and roads and farmlands, sparing nothing in their ravenous wake.

    For four days, the national capital was cut off from traffic from much of the South, portions of the road linking Lokoja with Abuja having been washed away. Lokoja itself, like many other cities caught up in the floods, evoked scenes of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which our own Poet Laureate Niyi Osundare has memorialised for the ages in epic verse.

    Some 130 persons, most likely a gross undercount, have been reported killed in the floods. At least as many are missing. The number of displaced persons has to be in the millions, and damage to private property must be reckoned in trillions of Naira.

    Given just the dilatoriness, the studied evasion with which Nigerian insurance companies typically handle claims, those who lost their homes and property to the flood cannot rest easy that help is forthcoming. And here I am talking of those who took the trouble and expense to buy insurance cover, or were corralled to do so by a mortgage institution.

    Most of the victims probably do not fall in this category and are entirely on their own. With the sluggish economy and rising cost of everything, and the predilection of the mercantile class for profiting from the misfortunes of others, a good many of them are not going to be in a position any time soon to repair or rebuild their homes.

    The fortunate among the millions of displaced persons will be housed in camps for months if not years, and the rest will have to fend for themselves as best they can

    The National Assembly has not met in emergency session to deliberate on legislative measures to cope with what is without question the greatest natural disaster to have struck Nigeria in recent memory.

    Perhaps its members are waiting for President Goodluck Jonathan to propose a supplementary budget. But what stops a private member from proposing an appropriate bill and shepherding it through the legislature in readiness for the President for assent?

    As for Dr Jonathan, he was half a world away, in New York, addressing the United Nations General Assembly and trying once again to charm those elusive foreign investors into coming to Nigeria to seek their fortunes as the flood waters rose steadily, turned entire cities into flotillas, and cut off Abuja from the south-western part of the country.

    The churlish would say that he should not have travelled out at all, or should have headed back as soon as he was made aware of the enormousness of the unfolding catastrophe. But it may well be that his aides never told him how dire the situation had become so as not to distract him from making the most of a moment on the world’s stage that comes only once a year.

    Besides, the vice president, cabinet ministers and officials Specialised agencies and a sprawling were on hand to deal with any emergencies. And, to his great credit, Dr Jonathan took time off his hectic schedule in New York to direct the designated ministers and officials to take charge. If they did not rise up to the occasion, it cannot be the President’s fault.

    But, wearing another hat, the President is also griever and consoler-in-chief; he sets the mood of the nation in times of rejoicing as well as in times of calamity. It would have been a gesture of enormous significance if, on his return from the United States, he had visited some of the beleaguered communities offering words of sympathy and assuring them that his Administration would do all its power to bring them succour.

    In politics, perception is almost everything. Dr Jonathan needed to be perceived as a President who cared, who feels their pain, and is firmly resolved to translate his concern into practical relief measures. Such a gesture could have bridged somewhat the widening gulf between the general public and his Administration.

    In this respect, time is still on his side, even if not on the side of the beleaguered, who will no doubt see it as a fresh disappointment that their privations rated just four perfunctory sentences in his National Day broadcast.

    It will no doubt be remarked that it was foreign contractors who made the national capital accessible by road from the South-west some four days after a stretch of the Lokoja-Abuja highway was washed away by flood waters.

    And it will be asked: Where were the indigenous contractors? Where, for that matter, were all the hardware that the government relief agencies ought to have stockpiled all these years – rescue vehicles and river craft especially. Where are the mobile emergency health centres? Where are the emergency water-treatment plants? Where was the emergency communication system?

    It will be asked even more insistently: Why was there so little preparation for a disaster so clearly foretold?

    Meanwhile, the Jonathan Administration will have to shed its preoccupation with fringe issues and devote all its energies to coping with this unfolding tragedy. The Weather Bureau says the worst may still lie ahead. This means designing comprehensive measures to deal with the present emergency and proactive measures to contain the coming one.

    I am thinking of food and shelter for the displaced; of schooling arrangements for children, and of their general safety.

    I am thinking of the vast farmlands now under water, and the harvest now lost, and the livestock that perished; the food shortage that is sure to follow, and the high prices everyone will have to pay for a piece of whatever is available.

    At a time like this, the usual posturing will simply not do. It will have to yield to fast-paced, coordinated and sustained action designed to bring relief urgently to communities of the beleaguered across the nation.

  • Flood is king in Etsako,Makurdi, Lokoja, others

    Flood is king in Etsako,Makurdi, Lokoja, others

    Nigerians seem to be in for hard times as rains pound more cities and towns almost ceaselessly. From Edo, Nasarawa and Plateau to Kogi, Benue and Bayelsa states, many are counting their losses.

    Yesterday, Agenebode, Edo State, was struggling to stay afloat. Roads turned into rivers and people practically swam their way home.

    The weekend overflow from River Niger displaced no fewer than 3,000 persons in five villages in Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.

    The flood devastated the coastal villages and destroyed food crops. Animals were washed away.

    Villages mostly affected include Ekoawele I and Ekoawele II, Oguoyor, Ukpeko-Uzanu, and Ogberaya-Uzanu all affiliate suburbs of Agenebode, where the level of water compelled the use of boats across the ravaged areas.

    Temporary emergency camps have been opened for the victims at Uzanu in Agenebode and the primary school at Adogu Station in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State.

    Chairman of Etsako East Local Government Area Peter Ojor Anyai described the situation as unfortunate.

    Anyai advised victims taking refuge in far away Kogi State to relocate to the temporary camp at Agenebode to get assistance.

    The ravaging flood is also reported to have submerged parts of Etsako Central, destroying farm lands and property.

    Kingdom Heritage Academy Makurdi, a school owned by the Living Faith Church, has been shut down indefinitely as a result of massive flooding of the premises.

    Parents brought their children to school only to find out that water has taken over the entire premises.

    Both Winners Chapel and Kingdom Heritage Academy are located on the busy Makurdi-Gboko federal highway in Wurukum, Makurdi, the Benue State capital, where the flooding has closed down many businesses.

    Many in Sagbama, Bayelsa State and Akwanga West Development Area of Nasarawa State are mourning the destruction of their food crops worth millions of naira.

    Such crops include yams, rice, maize, guinea-corn, beans, soy-beans as well as sugarcane.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident occurred as a result of heavy rain resulting from the over flooding of River Lille, located at the boundary between Kaduna and Nasarawa States, which destroyed food crops.

    More than 60 farmers are affected by the disaster.

    The Village Head of Lille, Mr . Sarki Ibrahim, said the flood was the worst ever to be experienced in the area.

    He said: “The community depends solely on farming for survival; the flood would cause a lot of hardship to the people of the area”.

    Ibrahim described the incident as pathetic, calling for the intervention of concerned authorities to come to their aid and help to alleviate the suffering of the farmers in the area.

    The village head called on the state government and other wealthy individuals to come to the aid of the farmers.

    Rev. Jerry Modibo, a prominent indigene of the area and former Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President in the state, expressed shocked at the situation.

    He said: “This incident would cause a lot of hardship, not only to the people of the area but also to outsiders, who normally buy foodstuff in the area.”

    Modibo urged the government at all levels as well as worthy individuals to come to the aid of the people in to salvage them from the predicament by assisting them with materials to ease their hardship.

    He also called on the government to expedite action to avert the recurrence of the flood in the area.

    The Lokoja-Abuja road remains closed because of the damage done to it by flood.

    Alternative to Lokoja-Abuja Road

     

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said it had worked out alternative routes to and from Abuja to lessen the agony of motorists, following the temporary closure of the flooded Lokoja-Abuja Road.

    The Federal Road Safety Commission on Sunday had announced the blockade of the road due to persistent flooding, which has made the Lokoja area of the road dangerous and impassable as a result of the overflow of River Niger.

    In a statement yesterday, the Deputy Corps Public Education Officer of the commission, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, urged motorists driving from Lagos and wishing to use Okene-Lokoja-Abuja route to divert to Okene-Ajaokuta-Ayangba-Ankpa-Makurdi Lafia-Akwanga-Abuja route.

    Those coming from the Southeast should use Otukpa-Makurdi route, and those driving from Abuja to Lokoja should use Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi-Ankpa-Okene route.

    He said the commission had also deployed more personnel in those routes to forestall traffic gridlock.

     

    Over 10,000 people displaced in Kogi, Benue flood

     

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has deployed relief materials to the camps where over 10,000 Internally Displaced People (IDP) from Kogi and Benue states are taking refuge after they were sacked from their homes with the ravaging flood across north central region of Nigeria.

    A technical team from the agency visited areas devastated by the floods along the banks of Rivers Benue and Niger and their tributaries in states over the weekend to assess the damage and identify suitable intervention required to address the problem.

    According to the team, most of the affected areas remained flooded with most of the displaced persons resorting to taking shelter in four camps.

    The flood in Benue State is said to affect the communities in Makurdi, the state capital, along the river belt, while about nine local government areas were affected in Kogi State, with Ibaji Local Government Area almost submerged.

    Other local government areas affected as Bassa, Ofu, Kogi, Omala, Ajaokuta, Ankpa, Igalamela and Lokoja, where property, including hotels, residential buildings, offices and fishing communities along the confluence of Rivers Benue and Niger have all been submerged.

    NEMA’s Director of Planning, Research and Forecasting, Charles Agbo, during a meeting with Kogi State Governor Wada Idris, warned of prolonged flooding as more water would be released from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon and Kainji Dam with the intensifying rains.

    He urged the government to enforce the standard regulation on urban planning and development as well as permanently relocate communities in the flood plains to safer locations.

    “Even after the flood, most of the submerged houses may become too weak and no longer be safe for habitation, in addition to the potential health hazards from the disaster.

    “Therefore, the states governments must rise up to their responsibilities to the affected communities as the Federal Government, through NEMA, would provide necessary support the displaced persons.”

    The governor expressed concern of the Federal Government towards the flood situation and requested support to reinforce the efforts by the state government to assist the displaced persons. He urged NEMA and other relevant organisations to identify measures to mitigate future occurrence of the flood.

     

    al-Makura donatesrelief materials

     

    Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura has donated cash and relief materials worth over N5 million to over 34,000 displaced persons ravaged by flood in some villages in Toto Local Government Area of the State.

    al-Makura, while donating the money and the relief items to the victims at Umaisha village on Monday, noted that government was sensitive to the plight of the people.

    “It was only right to identify with the people at this trying moment.”

    He said while the government was striving to provide the people with basic amenities, the ones they had, were being destroyed through natural disasters like flood.

    al-Makura urged the Federal Government to come to the aid of the people in the affected communities.

    Also speaking, the Chairman of the Toto Local Government Area, Alhaji Umar Bamu, said that 34,210 persons had been displaced by the flood across seven communities in the area.

    He said about 9,000 houses in the area were submerged by water, among them the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) and a primary school. Crops and other property worth millions of naira were lost to the flood.

    Among items donated were bags of rice, beans, gari and millets.

    Other items included blankets, detergent, toilet soap, palm oil, and body cream.

    The governor was also at the palace of the traditional ruler in the area, the ‘Ohimege Opanda,’ Usman Abdullahi, to commiserate with him and the people of the area over the disaster.

     

    ‘How to escape falling victims of flood’

     

    Minister of Environment Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia has advised Nigerians to adhere to the flood alert system.

    The minister explained that lives can be saved and losses minimised if the alerts are taken more seriously.

    Mrs. Mailafia spoke while sympathising with flood victims .

    The minister said: “The monumental losses suffered in many states, and the destructions to lives and properties call for sober reflection. It calls for review of our strategies and commitments towards mitigating the devastating effects of climate change.”

    After inspecting the flood ravaged parts of the North, the minister reiterated the need for residents of flood-prone areas to heed the early warnings of the ministry on impending floods, and to promptly evacuate to avoid losses.

    The minister appealed to residents to refrain from dumping refuse on drainages, gutters, and the blockage of canals which aggravated floods.

    She warned against building houses in flood plains, or banks of rivers and streams. The minister said there is need to encourage planting of trees to prevent environmental degradation.

    She appealed to people to embrace and adopt the use of alternative sources of cooking energy such as gas stoves, to preserve the country’s forest.

     

     

  • Flood : FRSC closes Lokoja-Abuja highway

    Flood : FRSC closes Lokoja-Abuja highway

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on Sunday announced the closure of the Lokoja-Abuja highway to ensure the safety of road users.

    Mr Mohammed Garuba, the Kogi State Sector Commander of the FRSC, said that the decision to close the highway was to ensure the safety of lives.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highway had since last week been flooded because of the rise in water level from River Niger.

    He said that the commission arrived at the decision following the continued rise in the water level at the Banda Village, two kilometres to Lokoja, the Kogi capital, adding that the movement of vehicles on the road had become “completely impossible”.

    According to him, FRSC officials and some youths who had been guiding vehicles through the water for the past three days had been overstressed and could no longer cope with the situation.

    He said that the road would remain closed until the commission could guarantee safe vehicular movement.

    Meanwhile, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who had been carrying out rescue operations in Idah and Ibaji local governmentstold NAN that the situation in the area was deteriorating.

    One of the officials , Mr Ishaya choloko, who spoke to NAN on telephone from Idah said: “although some trapped victims had been rescued, so many people are still taking refuge on top of trees’’.

    He said that the three boats being deployed for rescue operations by National Inland Water Authority (NIWA) were inadequate, adding that the agency had been contacted to release more boats and equipment to hasten the evacuation of victims.

    He said that all the rescued victims had been camped at primary schools in Idah and gave an assurance that NEMA was making efforts to rescue the remaining victims latest by Monday morning.

    He explained that no casualty had been recorded so far.

    Meanwhile, Gov Idris Wada has visited Idah and Ibaji to assess the extent of damage and to commiserate with the victims of the flood disaster.

    He promised that the government would assist them to resume their normal lives. (NAN)