Rivers, Delta monarchs berate FG for not visiting flood victims

• say NEMA, Ministry of Humanitarian Services ought to have intervened
• Query N’Delta Minister for remaining in Abuja while the region is swept away
• Declare NDDC total failure as an interventionist agency

Obi of Ogbaland in Rivers State, Nwachukwu Nnam Obi, has expressed displeasure over the delay by Federal Government interventionist agencies to visit flooded communities in Orashi region to assess the impact of flooding.

Also, the traditional ruler of Idjerhe Kingdom in Delta State, Monday Whiskey, expressed grave worry over the devastation in the Niger Delta region, lamenting that monarchs and their subjects have been displaced due to Federal Government’s inability to tackle flooding, particularly in Delta and Rivers states.

Obi of Ogbaland claimed that despite the devastation in Ogba/Ebema/Ndoni Council and the Orashi region of the state, the Ministry of Humanitarian Services and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had not visited.

Obi made the claims when the Rivers Taskforce on Flood Management visited him to sympathise with him.

“There are no fewer than three oil majors in this council, Total is here, Nigeria Agip Company is here, Shell is here and so many other sub-oil companies. For the nation, this is the highest oil-producing council. You have seen how the facilities are underwater.

“NEMA ought to be here, the Ministry of Humanitarian Service should be in this state to have a first-hand feel of what it is like here. Chemicals are being let into the environment. We cry for a reason; we do not cry wolf when there is none and the nation must hear us and people must be sympathetic,” he said.

On the other hand, the Idjerhe king queried why the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs would remain in Abuja, while his people are being washed away by the flood.

Addressing newsmen in his palace in Idjerhe in Ethiope West Council of Delta State, the royal father said it was pitiable that the government had neglected its people in the wake of the ravaging flood from the Cameroon Dam.

Whiskey said over 16 kingdoms in his domain have been affected by flooding, forcing royal fathers and their subjects to relocate.

Condemning Federal Government for not salvaging the situation, Whiskey accused the Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) of failing in their responsibilities as interventionist agencies for the development and total well-being of the region.

“Going by the situation of the dam water released into Nigeria, the new Minister of the Niger Delta has failed. Flood is ravaging everywhere in the Niger Delta, and the minister is busy staying in Abuja doing nothing.

“The question is: what is he doing in Abuja? The ministry, he oversees, is called the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. And so, he has no reason to stay in Abuja, especially now that the flood has washed off the only East-West road we are managing to ply. We want to know what his responsibility is in Abuja when Niger Delta communities are being ravaged by flood. What is the NDDC doing to help address the flood disaster?

“The Niger Delta minister and NDDC have failed our people. There is no reason for them to continue to remain in office and no reason for the Federal Government to continue to allocate funds to them. This is the situation. We can no longer access Port-Harcourt from Delta State because the road has been washed away by the flood.”