The Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, on Tuesday said between N5bn and N10bn was lost to the flood in the state. He added that no fewer than 15,000 residents were rendered homeless.
Abdulrazaq who spoke to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said thousands of hectares of farmland were submerged during the flood.
He said, “I came to the President, among other things, to discuss ecological and developmental issues. Over the weekend, we had huge rainstorm that destroyed about 5,000 houses in the state capital.
“We had flooding in Kwara North and the bank of River Niger. There are a lot of internally displaced people at the bank of River Niger and in the state capital. The state needs aid to abate the crisis.
“We have thousands of hectares of farmland under water. Close to about 10,000 to 15,000 people have been displaced; it is straining the state’s economy. That is why we need aid.
“Luckily for us, we did two cycles of rice farming in the areas affected. We are hoping to do three cycles.
We are expecting bumper harvest this season, especially with Federal Government’s intervention in the agricultural sector. But unfortunately, we are going to lose this harvest.”
The governor said the Federal Government gave the state 10,000 Hectares Irrigation Scheme “to boost our dry season farming. That project is on course now.”
Asked to quantify the losses, Abdulrazaq said: “We are checking about N5 to N10 billion in losses.”
The governor said the President had taken some proactive steps on the matter. “The new General Manager at the National Emergence Agency is coming to Kwara to see the situation. NEMA is already on ground in Kwara.”