Jolted by news of two tragedies, the apex northern sociocultural group Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has commiserated with the governments and peoples of Niger and Kano States over their experiences of these recent disasters.
A few days ago, Niger State experienced a devastating flood. This unprecedented flood claimed many lives, destroyed property, disrupted livelihoods, submerged homes, and destroyed other critical infrastructure. It also disrupted the haulage of goods, including foodstuffs, to and from the southwestern states of Nigeria.
The Dakatsalle, Kano State, road traffic accident involved the State’s contingent of athletes, officials and journalists returning from the National Sports Festival (NSF), which had just ended in Ogun State, resulting in a total loss of 22 lives.
A statement issued by the national publicity Secretary, Professor Tukur Muhammad Baba, said, “ACF deeply mourns the lives lost and prays to Almighty God to provide succour to survivors to enable them to remain resilient, with the necessary strength to rebuild lives and livelihoods. May the injured return to good health soon.
“ACF prays that the tragic experiences will not be repeated anywhere in the United States. With regards to the Mokwa tragedy, ACF had drawn attention to predictions of the possible occurrence of such floods and called on authorities at local, state and federal levels to ensure that adequate pro-active measures are taken to mitigate the impact of such phenomenon by way of massive public enlightenment and awareness campaigns to people in flood-prone areas preparatory to the negative expected impacts”.
ACF believes there is still time to prepare for such predictable events, even if they are beyond human control. It calls for adequate preparations by all concerned to ensure that devastating consequences, as seen at Mokwa, will be taken care of.
“ACF hereby repeats its call on public emergency agencies, aid organisations, etc., to stock-up on essential resources with which to serve all who may come to need same, assist vulnerable communities with preparations, clear drainages and repair of related infrastructure, ensure strict enforcement of regulatory planning codes, town regional and environmental regulations”.
ACF called on citizens to observe sound environmental and hygienic practices, respect regulatory codes, laws, and regulations, unblock drainages and water channels, and desist from indiscriminately dumping refuse in unauthorised places.
The forum prayed that God Almighty would continue to protect our people and communities from natural and human-induced calamities.
