Floods: The Worst Is Over, Osinbajo Tells Nigerians

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the worst is over regarding the flood that some parts of the country have been experiencing in recent times.

He gave the assurance on Wednesday when he presided over the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, who conveyed the Vice President’s message to journalists said Lokoja the Kogi state capital has recorded appreciable reduction of six centimetres in water levels over the past weeks.

Kogi State is one of the states that have been affected by the floods with about 4000 residents displaced following the overflow of rivers Niger and Benue.

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had warned that the steady rise in water levels and weather forecast for the coming weeks have put Nigeria at risk of witnessing a recurrence of catastrophic flooding similar to what it witnessed in 2012.

There had been systematic daily rise in the water levels on both River Niger and Benue.

In 2012, catastrophic flooding affected up to 30 states in Nigeria and resulted in the deaths of over 300 people and displaced more than two million people, according to data from the National Emergency Management Agency.

NIHSA believes the country is at risk of a recurrence of the disaster if steps are not taken.