Waste disposal: Ondo Government cautions residents on flood management

The Executive Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has cautioned citizens not to engage in any activities that may result in flooding in the state, especially the disposal of rubbish in drainage systems. Ondo town had a flood on Friday that ruined property valued at billions of naira. Among other places devastated by the water were Itanla, Oka, Odo Ijomu, Bethlehem, Akure-Ondo Expressway, and Ife Road. A statement released on Monday by Mr. Ebenezer Adeniyan, the governor’s chief press secretary, stated that Aiyedatiwa visited and examined a few of the impacted districts on Sunday.

The state’s populace was advised by the governor to abstain from actions that exacerbated floods, such as clogging drainage systems with trash. Aiyedatiwa expressed his worry about the flood’s effects on the neighborhood and gave the locals confidence that his administration was dedicated to identifying long-term fixes to stop such incidents from happening in the future. He expressed his sincere worry about the difficulties these floods have created and stated, “We are already working to ensure that affected areas receive long-term solutions as well as immediate relief.” “I also want to make a plea to you, my people, to refrain from actions that can cause flooding, such clogging drainage channels with trash.

Flooding results from water not being able to move freely through obstructed drainage systems. This is harmful to the environment; let’s put an end to it. Dr. Abiola Bashorun, an expert in the environment, has recommended that the state government take immediate action to prevent floods in the future in the state. Speaking with our correspondent about the incident on Monday, Bashorun laid the blame for the state’s lack of action on the state government, specifically the state ministry of environment, after the Nigerian Meteorological Agency had earlier predicted that some states would see flooding this year.

She expressed her sympathies to the people of Ondo City for the terrible flash floods that struck the city on Friday, causing property destruction and other losses. “While we accept that flooding is a natural calamity that is more avoidable than controlled, I believe that the Ondo State Ministry of Environment did not adequately respond to distress alerts issued to states by NIMET and other weather monitoring agencies in Nigeria.

Please keep in mind that there was an incident in Ore last year, and given the proximity of Ore and Ondo, preventive measures were meant to be implemented to prevent the problem from spreading to Ondo, which is exactly what happened. Nothing had been done after that occurrence. “The recent flooding in Ondo City is undoubtedly sufficient evidence that the Ministry of Environment has not been able to effectively handle its primary goals. It is expected that rubbish and debris would have been cleared from the channelization of the linking canals in Ondo, such as Fagun and Itanla, long ago.

But in a statement, the state’s commissioner for the environment, Mr. Oyeniyi Oseni, said that the government was being proactive because it had taken some action to address the issue in coordination with other stakeholders. The statement said as follows: “The Ministry of Environment promptly developed some proactive plans to prevent flooding in the state after learning that the Nigerian Metrological Agency had predicted that there would be flooding in several areas of the country this year. “As soon as possible, the ministry arranged a well attended stakeholders meeting in May 2024 to raise awareness among all parties involved in reviewing flood mitigation methods.

“The Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Physical Planning, the Ministry of Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, and other pertinent MDAs worked together to coordinate the desilting of certain drainages in 18 local governments,” the ministry added.