Anambra floods remained on the front burner yesterday as Governor Peter Obi offered accommodation to the displaced persons inside the Government Lodge in Onitsha.
Senator Andy Uba was moved to tears when he visited the site of the floods and called on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare emergency in the area.
Dr. Uba, representing Anambra South, visited the affected coastal areas in Anambra East, Anambra West and Ogbaru local government areas.
“The situation in these Anambra communities is worse than those in Kogi, Benue and other states since this flood began its dangerous incursion into Nigeria.”
He urged federal government to address this “strange and evil development in Anambra State, where the River Niger is now discharging water into residential areas, instead of the other way round. The discharge channels are now making upward discharge of water, instead of downward discharge, wreaking unprecedented havoc in its trail. Churches and farmlands have been destroyed”, he said. He promised to facilitate the inclusion of relief for the communities in the next budgetary allocation. Although the affected communities are not within his senatorial constituency, Senator Uba gave financial assistance to them.
Governor Obi yesterday directed the Secretary to the Anambra State Government , Mr Oseloka Obaze, to immediately consider sending some people evacuated from the flooded communities to the Governor’s Lodge in Onitsha should there be shortage of accommodation.
Obi spoke while touring some of the public buildings sheltering the people at Omunwa Egboka primary school, behind the Basillica of the Most Holy Trinity.
The Governor, who cancelled a trip to Mexico and his participation in the Independence anniversary ceremonies because of the emergency, said the State Government would continue to feed and provide for them since they are suffering from natural disaster that was not their own making. “A few weeks ago, governors of the Southeast sent money to Haiti to help them rebuild after the Earthquake of 2010. If we could do it to them, we must do more for our people, that elected us to serve them”, Obi said.
The Governor visited other camps, Otuocha Local Governement Headquarters, Umueri General Hospital, Father Joseph Secondary School, among others.
Culled from THE NATION
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