From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The European Union (EU) has provided the sum of €70,000 to strengthen preparations for floods in Nigeria.
A statement by Bart Witteveen, of EU’s Humanitarian Aid office in Nigeria, said the funding was in anticipation of the beginning of high flooding period in Nigeria, and emergency preparedness to reduce the impact on flood prone states.
“This EU funding supports the Nigerian Red Cross Society to increase capacity and preparedness to reduce the impact of likely floods in the states of Ondo, Kogi, Kebbi, Anambra, and Cross River. This will be done through increased community awareness, prepositioning of stocks, mapping of evacuation centres and hygiene promotion.
“It is expected that this support directly benefits 10,000 people and, indirectly, around 25,000 more. The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
“In the past decade, especially during the last three years, there has been an observed pattern of flooding in Nigeria, with floods becoming the second most recurrent hazard affecting the country, after the epidemics.
“The high flooding period generally recorded from August to October is usually characterised by the collapse of major dams, overflow of riverbanks and heavy occupation of residential areas or the environment by large masses of water due to heavy flow of run-off rainwater, uprooting and washing away of residential buildings, and blowing away roofs of buildings.
The rainy season also brings with it landslides in which hills and high lands collapse, burying people’s buildings and farmlands. The menace of erosion also comes in to contribute to further deterioration of the condition of the people and environment,” the EU said.
The EU further said the trends were showing the necessity to anticipate the forecasted hazard and contribute much earlier to the preparedness in the areas at risk.