By Adewale Sanyaolu
To reduce the impact of socio-economic impact of flood victims, Shell says it has committed one million Dollars ($1million), exclusive of its joint venture partners in Nigeria, to support government’s efforts to provide relief to people impacted by the current flood disaster.
A statement from Shell explained that the donation will be used to procure and distribute food and non-food relief materials, as well as medical supplies, to impacted communities hosting Shell operations in the affected states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Imo.
The statement added that similar to its response in the 2012 flood disaster, staff of Shell companies in Nigeria are also contributing towards a voluntary fund for the purchase of additional relief materials for impacted people.
Country Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, and Managing Director, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said, “We are deeply concerned that the flood waters have further hampered socio-economic activities in the region, exacerbating known vulnerabilities, with women and children most affected. We hope that our assistance can help them cope with the impact of this tragedy.”
Shell’s support comes as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announced that the floods continue to have wide-spread impact across the country, affecting 29 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory.
Recall that the Federal Government says it has developed a Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, also known as Flood Fund, to tackle floods by providing grants and loans to businesses, industries and academia, among others.
In its new National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for Nigeria, the government outlined the crude oil account, Federal Inland Revenue Service, donations and endowments among others as avenues to raise money for the Flood Fund.
In the document, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, the government said the Flood Fund would complement existing Ecological Fund towards addressing the flooding issues in Nigeria. On funding sources for the initiative, the report stated, “Monies received by the fund in the form of donations, endowments, grants, and gifts; and monies under an Act payable to the fund.”
It further stated that the sources of funding shall adopt a pooled funding model into the Flood Fund of each state, managed by the technical committee coordinators.
“Other sources of funding include emergency and disaster management related budget lines in MDA budgets; the ecological fund; any emergency fund; donor/partner funds; and any presidential directives or arrangements through ad-hoc committees with cross-cutting mandates or terms of reference,” the report stated.