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Minister urges the use of floodwaters for electricity generation
- Seeks inter-ministerial collaboration
- Floods remain a significant problem affecting lives in the country
The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, has advocated using floodwaters for electricity generation and agricultural purposes. She said this while attending a stakeholders review of the National Multi-Sectoral Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan on Monday.
”Flooding has also been exacerbated in both frequency and magnitude due to climate change, other humanitarian crises, and quite frankly, poor coordination of the flood risk management cycle from a policy and operational point of view”, she said. This has necessitated the inauguration of an inter-ministerial group tasked with drafting a National Multi-Sectoral Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.
SadiyFarouq noted the impact of the 2012 floods on the country and acknowledged the need to harness floodwaters to benefit society. ”We are advocating an integrated flood management approach where flooding is effectively managed using multi-sectoral expertise, and floodwater is harnessed for beneficial purposes such as agriculture, electricity, etc.”, she said.
The inter-ministerial committee includes representatives of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)