Raymond Ozoji

Does Anambra State have anything close to contingency funds or the likes of it? If the answer is yes. Under whose ministry, department or agency does the contingency fund reside and how much are we talking about? What are the criteria for using such funds and who does the approbation? How has Anambra SEMA responded to the flood disasters in the aforesaid local government areas in practical terms devoid of mere lip service and fictitious figures on papers as to millions of naira already spent on provision of relief materials to flood victims?

With the insurgence and persistent increase in the flood level at Anambra-West, Anambra-East, Ayamelum and Ogbaru Local Government Areas of Anambra State, the situation can be best described as having grown from bad to worst as there is apparently no way out of the disaster unless there is a divine intervention.
Virtually all the communities, villages, farmlands and all other means of livelihood in the aforementioned local government areas have not only been submerged by the flooding but has completely been swallowed by the ravaging flood waters causing from the Omambala River and River Niger respectively.
More story-telling may not be enough to explain the level of suffering, agony and gnashing of teeth brought upon the victims of this year’s flood disaster in Anambra state as practical government intervention in the flooding seem not insight yet because there are apparently no concrete arrangements made to either mitigate the adverse effects of the flood disasters or better still evacuate the flood victims to an upland where camps would be made available to provide shelter and succor in the interim, the entire situation seem to be handled with mere cosmetic approach.
Rather than feel the pulse of the flood victims in Anambra-East, Anambra-West, Ayamelum, Ogbaru and of course Awka-North council areas in Anambra state, both the Federal as well as the Anambra state government appear not to know the right decision to take to saluage the conditions of the flood victims in the areas.
Recently the Anambra State House of Assembly moved a motion urging the Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi to provide the State emergency Management Agency (SEMA) with all necessary equipment for efficient discharge of its duties, that SEMA be also sufficiently provided with other incentives for a 24 hour standby call duty and that SEMA shall brace-up for the numerous emergency challenges being witness for some time in the state. The question is what is the effieciency of this all-important motion sponsored by Hon Paulinus Onyeka, Hon Gabriel Onyewife, Hon Benson Nwawulu, Hon Victor Okoye and Hon Obinna Emeneka? Another cogent question is how effective is the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency headed by Dr Nwabufo Ijezie on issues of prompt response to disasters and emergencies in the state?
Does Anambra State have anything close to contingency funds or the likes of it? If the answer is yes. Under whose ministry, department or agency does the contingency fund reside and how much are we talking about? What are the criteria for using such funds and who does the approbation? How has Anambra SEMA responded to the flood disasters in the aforesaid local government areas in practical terms devoid of mere lip service and fictitious figures on papers as to millions of naira already spent on provision of relief materials to flood victims? What really are the relief materials provided by the state government through SEME to flood victims in the aforementioned areas that are being quantified in millions of naira? The government of Anambra state seem not to really understand what those flood victims are going through in the present circumstance.
More astonishing is the fact that recently the House Committee on Environment of the Anambra State House of Assembly led by the speaker, Rt Hon Princess Chinwe Nwaebili took a tour of the flood disaster areas of Anambra-East, Anambra-West, Ayamelum and Ogbaru Local Government Areas where in the lawmakers visited these places to better appreciate the sufferings of fellow Anambrarians.
Though this chronicle is not an indictment on the oversight function of the house Committee on Environment to the flood disaster areas in the state but the astonishment of the writer stems from the fact that the relief materials used on that journey does not befit the current situation on ground. To all intents and purposes the relief materials brought to the victims of flood in the affected areas by the Anambra State House of Assembly could be best described as an affront as well as adding more insults to an already devastating injury.
To be more specific, how would few cartons of indomie noodles, few satchets of beverages, some toiletries, few loaves of bread, mosquito nets and such other insignificant item assuage the seemingly unending sufferings and hardships of many a person whose houses and means of livelihood have all been washed away by flood. Are those items in the form of relief materials intended to reassure them that all hope is not lost yet? Or are they indirectly asking the flood victims to go and mourn their fate? Is it the nature of their oversight functions?
The media may have began to report that the Anambra State House of Assembly expended millions of naira in the provision of relief materials to flood victims in Anambra state but the truth of the matter is that such huge sums of money may have been spent on the pages of newspaper as well as in the reports of some electronic media because the relief materials are not enough to placate these people that the flood have cast an unquantifiable and in-explicable blight upon.
The State Governor may have also visited the flood sites to appreciate the suffering of the victims but what practical remedial actions have been taken to ameliorate the situation? Will the Anambra state government continue to dilly-dally and prevaricate until the entire state is engulfed by flood waters? Does the nature of the relief materials donated to the victims of the 2012 flooding in the state by the Anambra State House of Assembly portray the fact the there are no funds or resources to adequately respond to the needs of the flood victims?
What happened to all the millions and billions of dollars donated by the World Bank, UNDP and some other foreign partners to tackle environmental hazards resulting from flood, erosion and other related problems in Anambra state? What happened to the allocations to the Ministry of Environment to handle such disaster? What happened to the ecological funds at the local government levels? Where is the vibrancy of the legislature in ensuring that such monies are properly and judiciously utilized to guarantee viable results? What efforts has Anambra lawmakers in the National Assembly made to draw the attention of the federal government to the devastating flood situation in Anambra State?
Although the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Princess Chinwe Nwaebili while speaking to journalists at the headquarters of the Ogbaru Local Government Atani where she apparent hails from said “we are here to see for ourselves the devastating situation the flood have caused the people of Ogbaru Local Government Area. The condition of Ogbaru Local Government is pitiable and most of the houses have been submerged including the local government headquarters. We came here and decided to bring some relief materials to say sorry to the people of Ogbaru local government area. We came here with some cartons of indomie noodles, mosquito nets, bread, milk, carbin biscuit, soaps because here in the local government we have a central camp where they cook food and send to other camps in and around Ogbaru…”
“The government has been doing that for the past one week providing relief materials. As I speak to you now, we have about 10 communities already submerged by the flood, so we cannot go farther than this headquarters except you want to use the ferry boat “So am still calling on the federal government to come to the aid of Ogbaru Local Government Area. Though we have gone to Ayamelum, Anambra-East, and Anambra-West but am still pleading that the federal government should come to their rescue because at the end of the flood, their will be famine and hunger strike…”
Princess Nwaebili also said that relief materials are not enough but provisions for Agric loans should be made available to enable the farmers in the affected areas start afresh to avert a situation where after the flood disasters, some of the farmers will begin to commit suicide! The situation is indeed pathetic and requires more pragmatic and practical solutions rather than mere cosmetic and plastic approach.

http://orientnewspaper.com/cosmetics-over-flood-victims-plight/