Government should act, not talk- Jigawa State is in danger of being perished away by flooding -By Mudassir Turakee

While some of the PDP aspirants like of Dr. Nuruddeen Muhammad (Northeast Senatorial District), Gambo Gujungu (Ringim/ Taura Federal Constituency,) Mustapha Sule Lamido (Jigawa State gubernatorial flag- bearer), etc are busy reaching out to the places affected by this prevailing disaster of flooding with their emergency aids, words of kindness and some palliatives in order to comfort and commiserate with the victims who lost their numerous valuables, homes and even lives, the APC gubernatorial candidate, who is the incumbent Deputy Governor, is busy unveiling his “I don’t care” attitude in his recent interview with NTA instead of joining the rescue mission.

It is, however, well known to all that Jigawa State is currently experiencing an unimaginable flood that forced the closure of many private and government offices as a result of how the flood washes away the roads and bridges that connect the various parts of the state. Some schools, hospitals, markets are now inaccessible while some villages and towns are totally displaced. Our farmlands are invaded and our crops that we toiled hard to grow are destroyed, and this heralds the omen of famine throughout the year ahead (God forbid.) It is in this time that we heard the APC gubernatorial candidate speaking contrary to our need. So demoralizing.

The most debilitating part of the story is how he tried to willy-nilly justify the recklessness of their government with regards to the “annually-expected-phenomenon.” Instead of admitting their own shortcomings, he ended up giving paradoxical and self-contradictory mendaciloquences in the name of solution to the calamity.

However, in his words, Danmodi said and I quote “His Excellency has already ordered consultants from Netherland to study this perennial flooding in Jigawa and then give us an advice on what we will do.” He added, “but really, the immediate measures, I am still insisting, the immediate measures we need to do is desilting the river and clearing the typha grass.” With due respect, sir, you have gone off the rail. The immediate measures at this very trying time is to ensure the safety and well-being of the people that are affected by this natural disaster. The government, in collaboration with every volunteer and philanthropic organization, should help the affected people with basic necessities of life like food stuffs, healthcare facilities and shelter for those that lost their domiciles before coming back to this monumental issue that requires huge capital outlays. An Igbo proverb says “The fox must be chased away first, after that, the hen might be warned against wandering in the bush.”

Secondly, the notion of ordering consultants from Netherland is not the best, for it is a time consuming strategy which may take weeks before their arrival. As I mentioned above, frantic response is all we need. It is the only language we can understand right now.

Moreover, it is high time we stopped taking pride in importing foreigners to Nigeria for construction exercises. This does nothing but discounting the quality and intelligence of our own engineers whom we trained in Nigeria and even those we sponsored for their studies abroad. Let’s give them the opportunity to try, if it persists, then we can start looking for foreign interventions.

“A stitch in time saves nine.” May Allah ease our conditions.

Mudassir Turakee writes from Gujungu, Jigawa State.