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House of Representatives, yesterday, mandated its Committee on Appropriations to make provisions for N200 billion in the 2023 budget before the National Assembly for the Ecological Project Office in the Presidency for flood preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery and relief packages.

It also urged the Federal Government to immediately release N5 billion into the already created Special Ecological Fund Account of each of the 36 states and the FCT to mitigate the effect of the recent flooding across the country.

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The Green chamber also enjoined the Executive arm of government to submit a supplementary budget of N100 billion or more, immediately, for Ecological Project Office (EPO), in the Presidency as intervention fund for mitigation, recovery and relief programmes across the country.

This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance by Henry Nwawuba and Ibrahim Isiaka on the need for strategic planning to prevent the reoccurrence of flood and erosion disasters in Nigeria in 2023 and beyond.

Nwawuba, in the lead debate, informed the House that 33 out of the 36 states and the FCT were recently ravaged by flood, in which over 600 people died. He added that over 1.4 million people were displaced while over 2.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance with over 60 per cent them being children.

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“Most of the affected states are agrarian economies which raises concern about impending food crisis, with 110,000 hectares of farmlands completely damaged, Olam Rice Farm submerged worth over $15m, 10 hectares of rice farm submerged in Kogi State. Transportation of food and other essential products such as petroleum products affected by the damaged roads and bridges and food inflation which is already of record high (23.3%) as at early November will increase further.

“Currently, a bag of 50Kg rice cost about N48, 000, up by 48.8%, while a bag of maize used for animal feed is about N29,000, up by 93%.”

He recalled that in 2012, 32 out of 36 states were affected by flooding with 363 people killed, over 2.1 million displaced, about seven million people affected and a total loss estimate of N2.6 trillion recorded.

The lawmaker expressed concerns that the country seemed to be unprepared for climate change with a ranking of 162 out of 180 countries in the environment performance index. According to him, the implication is that the country could experience food, humanitarian and health crises and revenue shortfall in 2023.

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Meanwhile, the House has resolved to convene a summit on tertiary education as part of efforts to proffer solution to the myriads of problems bedeviling the nation’s institutions of higher learning.

(Sun)