Flood: Bayelsa govt. blasts Humanitarian Minister over comment

Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

 The Bayelsa State Government has described  as ‘spurious’ a statement credited to Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management  and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, which said the  Bayelsa State was not one of the 10 most impacted states by the 2022 flood.

The state’s Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ayiba Duba,  who reacted to the Minister’s claim, said the Minister’s comment was ‘disheartening but not surprising’  considering  the slow  response to the  humanitarian crisis arising from the flood despite the President’s directive for her to come to the aid of the state is indeed a confirmation of our belief that the Federal Ministry and its agencies have abandoned their responsibility and are not interested in managing the disaster.

According to him, “Indeed, the Minister is already turning into part of the disaster she was appointed to manage. She had earlier claimed that only four Local  Government Areas of the state were impacted by the unprecedented flood”.

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He alleged that the minister was obviously “relying on a bogus data in contradiction of the clear reality that every local government in the state is impacted by the flood in varying degrees.

“The way the Minister has treated our state is so unfortunate that our people are beginning to doubt if we are part of Nigeria.”

The Information  Commissioner, who further  expressed dismay that the Minister sat comfortably in Abuja to determine the most flooded state in the country.

Recalling the ‘nonchalant’ approach to the state’s plight since the flood commenced,  Duba noted that, “Is it not curious that since the devastation occasioned by the flood occurred a month ago, no representative of the federal government  has visited our state to assess the situation”.

The Federal Government, he lamented,  has not shown the minutest of empathy since this monumental devastation hit our state.

The seemingly lukewarm attitude towards the state, he added ,  has led Bayelsans to ask :  “And we are asking is Bayelsa State still part of Nigeria? Are we only important when it is time to exploit the resources in our land”.

He challenged the minister to tell Nigerians with all sincerity the relief materials brought to the state.

Duba continued, “If the Humanitarian Minister is sincere, let her tell Nigerians the relief materials brought to the state and who received them.

“The Minister and Indeed the Federal Government are not fair to our people who have undergone trauma of losing loved ones, homes and livelihood”, he added.

Further describing the Minister’s data with which she came to the conclusion that Bayelsa was not even one of the 10 most impacted states as ‘bogus’.

Her data, he added, contradicted basic science, common sense, concern and kindness.

Citing a similar flooding situation that occurred in one of the Northern states  and how aids to the state was swift, the Commissioner “wondered  how  a state up North, Jigawa,  worst impacted when indeed Bayelsa State has the unfortunate responsibility of receiving the flood water that ran through more than 15 states?

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“The data used by the Federal ministry to arrive at the conclusion is suspect and erroneous.   “How was it arrived at?

“By sitting in an office and conjuring figures”  Duba adding that by the reality on ground, over 300 communities were impacted by the flood and almost a million people were displaced from their homes, many of them losing their livelihood, in Bayelsa State.

“And no other state in the Federation is so impacted.

He advised the Minister to leave her cozy office in Abuja and come to Bayelsa State to ascertain the truth even as the flood began to recede  if she is  desirous of doing a good job.