A caller on Nigeria Info FM's Morning Crossfire says Rivers State’s reliance on ad hoc committees would not deliver lasting solutions to flooding challenges, stressing that only a permanent State Emergency Management Agency could ensure a sustainable response.
He argued that not even a local government flood response committee would solve the state’s flood crisis.
According to him, the current arrangement handled by the Rivers State Flood Management Committee is not sustainable. “Why is the state government shying away from setting up a state emergency agency instead of this ad-hoc committee?” he asked.
The Rivers State Flood Management Committee, led by Deputy Governor Ngozi Ordu, recently distributed relief materials to flood-prone areas, an effort the caller dismissed as haphazard. He claimed the committee is already failing in its duties, citing the situation in Oyigbo, where residents have threatened to protest alleged neglect in the distribution of relief materials.
“Last year the committee failed; this year they are going to fail again,” he said.
Citing INEC’s method of distributing election materials, the caller questioned why the state flood management committee could not share relief materials evenly across affected local governments.
He added that this inconsistency is a sign the committee will not meet its mandate in 2025. “It’s a haphazard arrangement,” he insisted. “It’s not going to work this year, it won’t work next year, until they set up a proper state emergency agency.”
