The Federal University Lokoja (FUL) has called on the federal government to increase the annual budgetary allocation to states in the country prone to flood for the control and management of flood disaster.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the first International Conference on Flood and Sustainable Development organised by the Federal University Lokoja in collaboration with HYPPDEC and NIWA in Lokoja, Kogi state.
Part of the communiqué read: “Flooding, as a phenomenon, has had a devastating effect on the human population and there is the need to mitigate this effect by bringing together the town and the gown for collaborative effort in tackling this disaster.
“The strategic importance of the confluence of the Niger-Benue Rivers in this perennial flooding and the forum has provided the avenue for gaining a better understanding of the ecological and environmental factors that contribute to floods in the Niger-Benue trough.”
According to the communiqué, many communities in the affected states have recorded loss of human lives as well as property, livestock, crops, non-functional infrastructure and health challenges due to water borne diseases.
Over 50 papers were presented by scholars and researchers across the globe at the three-day conference.
Prof. Jimmy Adegoke of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City and Prof. Temi Ologunrisa, the Vice-Chancellor, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Ondo state, presented two key papers.
While the keynote papers were presented by Engr. Clement Nzeh, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, Managing Director//Chief Executive Officer of the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), represented by Mr. Jimoh Haruna Gabi, Director of Administration and Finance of the commission, and Chief Dr. George N. Muoghalu, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).