Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu stated these during a briefing which President Bola Tinubu directed after the first Federal Executive Council meeting.

To ensure proper coordination, the Minister said her ministry with others will be working with the office of the Vice President and the Nigeria Governors Forum to ensure proper mitigation of the likely impact of the floods.

The Minister urged State Governments and communities that may be affected by the flood to begin immediate evacuation of their family members and livestocks to plain areas.

She also hinted that the federal government will provide temporary shelter and other relief items to those that may be affected.

She said: “We are gathered on the instance of the President following a presentation which I made at the FEC today on the opening of the Cameroon Lagdo dam which has already been opened as we speak and it is expected that within the next seven days, we will begin to see the effect of that dam opening in Nigeria.

“Flood is gradually becoming a yearly or seasonal occurrence in Nigeria which has led to loss of lives and properties in large numbers.

“We as a government are always interested in preventing, mitigating and proffering solution including recovery plans for flood and its consequences.

“Presently now, we have a direct task by Mr. president to ensure proper preparedness for the consequences of the dam which has been opened in Cameroon and that is why this coordination meeting is being held tonight to help Nigeria adequately respond to it.

“A couple of States have been implicated and there have been ongoing engagements by NEMA with the state government but this will be carried out at higher level between the ministers, probably the Vice President and the state government; members of the Nigeria governors forum to ensure that they are part of the preparedness”.

On what is expected of states and communities that may be affected, Dr. Edu said: “One of the things the states and communities should do and even individuals is to begin to ensure that drainages are cleared and cleaned and whatever construction we have done on the drainages are quickly removed.

“Sensitization must also begin from the federal to the states, local government and communities. Everyone must be part of this engagement and sensitization.

properties of Nigerians.

“We are assuring Nigerians that we will do everything possible with the support of the President to ensure that we take necessary steps to control this menace.

“We call on Nigerians in the danger zone to vacate and state government should come in to ensure that such people living in danger areas are evacuated immediately.”

Also speaking, the Minister of Environment, Dr. Ishaq Salako said his ministry was working to ensure that Nigerians are alerted hourly on the flood situations.

He said: “Flood early warning that is domiciled with my ministry is on and working and we are issuing hourly warning alerts on floods not only with respects to river Benue but in most part of the country including River Niger. We are warning people and to let them know the level of water in their area and level of vulnerability to flood.

“We are moving a little ahead to get correspondents covering environments to get the alerts directly. A platform is being created where the reporters will get the alerts without waiting for ministry officials to interface with them.

“From what we have seen today, it shows clearly that the administration of President Tinubu is strong on collaboration an going forward, we are going to see more collaboration. The president told us today that we are a team and he is just the captain of that team. We will ensure that in coming years, flood is minimized to the barest minimum.”Flood: Cameroon opens Lagdo dam

hungry

The government, as well as well-meaning Nigerians have

been called upon to reach out to the less privileged in the

country, by aiding the poor in putting food on the table and

giving them hope of a better future. This was the position of

WB Charles Mbama, Grand Knight of the Order of the

Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM), Nigeria, Festac Town Sub-

Council, during the Sub-Council’s third stanza of KSM Feed

the Hungry Apostolate held Saturday, September 24, 2022, at

Catholic Church of the Annunciation, Festac Town, Lagos.

WB Mbama urged the government to emulate the Order of

Knights of St. Mulumba and use the template they (Knights)

are using in carrying out charity apostolate. Speaking on the

Feed the Hungry Apostolate, the Grand Knight disclosed that

it is the initiative of the Metropolitan Council, led by Sir Don

Eze, Metropolitan Grand Knight of Lagos Metropolitan

Council of Knights of St. Mulumba, Nigeria. He said: “It is

the situation where we feed the poor.

It is a quarterly event. We have done the first and second

stanza, and this is the third stanza. We assemble food stuff

and distribute to the poor and give them cash for them to

use to buy other condiments to use in cooking their food.”

Disclosing that KSM works in collaboration with the St.

Vincent De Paul Society, Mbama added that the Order has a

data base from where it invites the needy in the Church and

the area. According to him, “The first time we did it we were

had a total number of 180 persons, the second time we had

same range. The third time currently, we intend to feed not

less than 100 persons. And it is not limited to only Catholics

or Christians. What matters most is that these are the poor

in the society and we need to feed them because they are

hungry and we do this to the glory of God. “It is laudable

project because we have found out that it touches the life of

the poor, it is a commendable project. It is a spiritual

project and above all it is one of the plans of KSM charity

based work and is the heart of Lagos Metropolitan Council.

We thank the Metropolitan Grand Knight for the wisdom he

had in initiating this apostolate. While delivering his homily

at Mass, Fr. Pius Omofuma, Parish Priest, Catholic Church of

the Annunciation, Festac Town Commended the Knights

and Ladies for the great work they are doing, as he added

that it is very proper at this time to have this kind of gesture.

“It shows how much you listen to the gospel and you are

ready to put it into practice. It shows the depth of

witnessing for Christ”, he said. He stated that the charity

gesture by the Order goes a long way to show that from

their purse they have stretched themselves out to share with

those who do not have as much as they (Knights) have.

Speaking on the occasion, Bro Vincent Iwueze, Chairman

Project Committee, disclosed that the beneficiaries were

drawn from four parishes under the Sub-Council’s

jurisdiction, namely; Holy Family Catholic Church, St. Joseph

Catholic Church, Catholic Church of the Presentation and

Catholic Church of the Annunciation.