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In the wake of the devastating flash floods that claimed over 200 lives and displaced more than 4,000 residents in Mokwa Local Government Area, Niger State Governor Umaru Bago has called for urgent and coordinated action on water harvesting as a strategic response to climate-induced disasters.
Governor Bago made the remarks during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday. Speaking on the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, Bago stressed that Nigeria must shift from reactive emergency relief to proactive infrastructure investment.
“As a government, what we are trying to do is to harvest water. You will have three months of heavy flood and it will wash away everybody’s resources and houses, and you have nine months of drought. So there is need for a deliberate attempt by every government, both at the national level, at the state level, even at the local government level to start water harvesting, to invest in infrastructure for harvesting water, to build tube wells where these waters that come in excess will fall in, so that it will shore up underground water.”
He explained that Niger State is already taking the lead by building infrastructure such as tube wells to capture excess floodwater, thereby boosting underground water reserves. “This is what Niger state is already doing and that is why we are investing in a lot of irrigation facilities. We are doing a lot of agricultural initiatives, we have opened up lands, which used to be ravaged by flood. We have created canals that we are using to now do irrigation during the dry season and you can see wonderfully what we are doing.”
In addition to long-term adaptation measures, the Niger State Government announced immediate relief efforts. These include a ₦1 billion donation to support victims of the Mokwa flood and the release of ₦7 billion for the reconstruction of the Mokwa-Raba Road and four bridges destroyed by the disaster. The state will also distribute 10 truckloads each of rice, beans, maize, millet, and sorghum to affected communities.
Governor Bago expressed confidence that Niger State is on a steady path to resilience. “Niger state is doing very well in terms of addressing these issues in the interim and in the long term, it will be a story of the past,” he said.
Melissa Enoch
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