Between Ondo Election and Kogi Flood : A Case of Displaced Priority ?

While residents in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital and other riverine areas now use canoe to ply what used to be roads including workers, school children and passerby have to ply roads with canoe to transport to and fro their respective destinations. Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State joined his Ondo  counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu in Owo town,  in continuation of the latter’s campaign for the State’s 10 September governorship election.

The flood situation has worsened since then and local media report that at least 66 communities in the state have been affected and 1 person is thought to have died.

Speaking at the rally, Bello urged the people of Owo and Ondo in general to vote for  Akeredolu, while assuring them that his Ondo State counterpart will consolidate on his first term achievements if reelected. 

However, the current state of affairs of the victims of flood from the overflowing Niger river displacing over 50,000 people in  Kogi  central Nigeria, is left unaddressed, no palliatives to cushion the devastating effect across the 9 local government having the worst hit. 

 The idea that the Hon Commissioner for Environment Chief Victor Adewale Omofaiye today distributed relief materials to victims of Flood in Lokoja and Kogi Local Government Areas of the state only, but  neglecting others is unacceptable and does not correspond with the new direction blue print of Yaya Bello APC government

Kogi is one of the 22 states forecasted for red alert on flooding by NIMET in the 2020 rainy season, and the agency had severally warned through State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for residents along the river bank to relocate to high level areas.

The lack of purposeful  leadership to ensuring effective response to NIMET alert and  disaster management before the day of flood is attitudinal problem rather than  absence of resources or blame game