The Paramount Ruler of Oyigbo Urban in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State, Eze Kingsley Akobundu Nwogu, Eze Oha IV and some residents of the town have lamented the deplorable state of internal roads in their town.
They made the lamentations in separate exclusive chats with Thescale.com.ng in Oyigbo town where they attributed the recent flash floods experienced in the town to the bad roads in the area.
Eze Akobundu Nwogu, in particular appealed to the state government to be proactive rather than being reactive because flooding in the area is an annual occurrence which a responsible government ought to have found a lasting solution to long ago.
Answering questions on how to curb the menace, he said, “it is not rocket science, the government should construct more drainages and desilt the existing ones, then all the waters must be channelled to the Imo River, not drains that will lead to nowhere.”
Calling on the State government to come to the aid of the people, he lamented that his Palace has become an Internally Displaced Persons Camp (IDP) because some of the people whom the flood drove away from their houses do not have anywhere to run to and he can not stand and watch his subjects suffer.
He added that those who are taking shelter in the community town hall, he equally send relief materials to them, just like he did the last time the flood came.
Remember that Rivers State is among the states that weather forecasters predicted would be affected in this year’s floodings in the country and urged affected states to be proactive to avoid unpleasant circumstances.
The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), which issued the early warning signals also advised people in the affected areas to be vigilant and observant as well as moving to identified higher grounds and IDP camps where available.
The state government, on its part has constituted flood committee which has toured the local councils to assess their readiness and advised the various local councils to do same in preparation for the expected floods.
