Niger State governor, Mohammed Bago, has expressed ignorance about the source of the water which caused the massive flooding which ended up taking several lives in Mokwa.
The governor said that it may have come from outside the country, including Niger Republic and other parts of Africa.
Bago revealed this on Tuesday when the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, paid him a condolence visit following the death of nearly 200 people in a flooding tragedy which engulfed Mokwa Local Government Area of the state.
“Your Excellency, Niger State has vast land even bigger than Borno State; the difference is that Borno has more desert, and we have more water. We house four hydropower dams, which include Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro and Zungeru.
“Unlike other years, after the first rain, all our dams are so full we don’t even know where the waters are coming from, whether there is an overflow from Niger Republic or other parts of Africa. So, this first set of water we have received is hitting us badly.
“We are already doing a lot of advocacy to relocate people off the coastline so that they will not be affected,” the governor said.
Zulum announced a donation of N300 million to the victims of the Mokwa flood, saying that the donation was to complement the efforts of the Niger State government in addressing the challenges of the disaster.
He urged the Federal Government to establish a robust mechanism that would check and address the issue of climate change.
Bago, in his remarks, lauded his Borno State counterpart for the visit and donation, saying it was timely and a show of love.
He noted that both states have many things in common, stressing the doggedness, pro-activeness, perseverance and love of the Borno State Governor, which he said has kept him on his toes.
Bago reiterated the need for the federal government to work with the state governments to address the challenge of climate change.
“We want to call in the Federal Government to continue to work with the subnational, especially at this time of serious rainfall and climate change. As you rightly enumerated, climate change is a reality, and there is a need for our people to understand that,” Bago said.
