TUC berates government over flooding

Piqued by the cases of flood sacking communities in some parts of the country over the years, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria has charged the three tiers of government to put modalities in place to check impending flood predicted and reported in the dailies.
The TUC, in a statement on Tuesday, said it was unimaginable that flood could be ravaging the country without adequate measure put in place by the government.
The Congress said Nigerians were tired of the laxity in governance and want concrete steps taken.
It said one of such laxities was that while the country was facing flooding challenges, politicians were busy bickering over the 2015 elections.
The statement reads: “It beats the imagination of the Congress that our politicians are busy quarreling, engaging in fisticuffs and casting aspersions on themselves in both electronic and print media just because of 2015 elections at a time when many Nigerians have died on our dilapidated roads and as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency, ocean surges and floods.
“The Congress and other Nigerians are certainly tired of all the drama and laxity in governance which we consider disgraceful, unhealthy distraction, and a ploy from some quarters to continually deny Nigerians good governance and dividends of our hard-earned democracy. In Rivers State for instance, it is the taxpayers’ money that will be used to fix whatever the lawmakers damaged during the free-for-all fight which took place on the floor of the state assembly recently.
“Just at the weekend, it was reported that it would take the North over 20 years to recover what has been lost since the menace of the Boko Haram insurgency started. Last year many lives were lost and several states of the federation lost farmlands and livestock to floods, a situation which – from all indications – might lead to food scarcity this year. Unfortunately our leaders are apparently oblivious of the boldly-written handwriting on the wall. We wonder what the fate of the economy would be in the next few years if this unpalatable trend continues. And what about the adverse effects of the flight of multinational companies and mass importation of foreign goods and services?
“In saner environments, the prediction of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) that floods may affect as many as 90 local government areas in the country this year would keep leaders with conscience awake, but not in our clime. Our leaders’ medicine-after-death approach has never and can never take the country forward. Are they waiting for the floods to occur so they can send their condolences and relief materials? Are they waiting for it to happen before action can be taken? These are pertinent question bugging the Congress.
“We feel pained that the very essence of governance is being defeated. Indeed it is the anticipation of Congress that Nigerians are much the wiser now and will no longer cast their votes for people who over the years have betrayed the trust reposed in them.
“It was stated in the report that the essence of the vulnerability study carried out was to avert disaster, but such intervention is possible only if government ensures that proper sensitization exercise is carried out in the concerned states, namely Cross River, Ogun, Kogi, Oyo, Imo, Plateau, Kaduna, Bayelsa and Lagos.
“The TUC believes strongly that it is high time our political leaders woke up from their long slumber and proactively attend to this flood issue once and for all instead of abusing themselves on the pages of the newspapers. A stitch in time saves nine.”
The statement was signed by the President of the TUC, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and Secretary General, Barrister Musa Lawal.