KWALE/Nigeria: The sight of the victims of the flood in Ndokwa nation is gorry, heart-wrenching; my people are dying from hunger occasioned by surging flood, means of livelihood destroyed; these were the words of the President General of the pan-Ndokwa socio-cultural group, Ndokwa Neku Union, NNU, Brigadier General Mike Ndubisi, (Rtd) in a September 21, 2022, dated press statement made available to newsmen in Kwale, the Headquarters of Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State, South-South Nigeria.
The flood situation in Ndokwa East and parts of Ndokwa West according to the retired Army Chief, is devastating as he noted that efforts made to rescue victims of the flooding were not enough while he called on the Federal and State governments to declare emergency over the flood situation and swiftly step in to rescue the people.
National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA and its state counterpart, SEMA were the two agencies the Union called upon to step up actions by sending relief materials including medicals to the victims at the various Internally Displaced Persons, IDP Camps particularly those in the Technical College, Kwale premises and Uzomuku Primary School in Ashaka, Ndokwa West and East Local Governments respectively.
The flood according to the Ezionum, Ukwani Local Government Area-born Ndubisi, a red cap Chief, Ndokwaland from Afor, Ashaka, Aboh, Utchi through other communities is the worse hit, as Ndokwa East have been completely submerged by the surging flood which he noted may not recede soon due to its current momentum thereby endangering the lives of the people whom he said are homeless.
The government’s approach to rescue efforts is slow, Chief Ndubisi urged all tiers of government to rise to the occasion and declare the flood disaster a national emergency.
The statement expressed appreciation to those individuals who had in one way or another contributed to the ongoing efforts at alleviating the sufferings of the people concerned in what he described as a disaster of the immeasurable magnitude currently pervading the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency.
The NNU is deeply saddened by the flood that it noted have no end in sight adding, that the current flooding is the worst in the history of Ndokwaland as he expressed gratitude to the ‘administrators’ of the three Local Government areas that make up Ndokwa nation for their efforts thus far and he was quick to call for more actions to help the people out of their current dilemma.
To Chief Ndubisi, the oil companies operating in Ndokwa land cannot afford to play the ostrich while the land and her people are being washed away and, on this note, he called for concerted efforts by the companies to deploy resources and palliatives to cushion the “devastating effects” of the flood in Ndkowaland describing it as that land, that lays the golden egg for the Nigerian State.
The statement further said Committee has been set up by the NNU to monitor minute-by-minute developments in the flood-ravaged areas and also interface with governments across the board on how to handle the immediate and the long-term effects of the situation in a post-flood era in Ndokwa land.
Ndokwa people’s lives in the riverine areas, Ndubisi said will never remain the same adding that the “already bewildered people who hitherto live in squalor
have gotten their conditions of living worsened by the flood.”
Calling on the political establishment/politicians in Ndokwaland to do more than they are currently doing for their people maintaining that, the essence of humanity is to be one’s brother’s keeper.
“This is the time for politicians of Ndokwa extraction to show the people their much-professed love by coming to the aid of the drowning Ndokwa elders, women, and children who are hopeless in the face of the debilitating disaster that has befallen our nation.
“We need the FG to expeditiously rise to the occasion by immediately sending relief materials to our people. Our representatives owe us a duty of care in these trying times as we also call on donor agencies all over the world to rescue Ndokwa nation from what nature has brought upon us. The state government and oil companies are not left out in the Save Our Soul, SOS message. We want to see and feel the impacts of governments in the calamities that have befallen our nation without further delay to forestall collateral. damages.” The statement enthused.
