Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has stated that the current flooding across the Northeastern part of the country has not reached a situation to declare a state of emergency.
Official reports however, estimates that the flood disaster has killed over 600 people with over 2 million displaced.
Speaking on Channels TV on Thursday night, Suleiman said that the relevant authorities have not said they are overwhelmed or not capable of handling the current situation, for that reason, the flooding has not reached a situation to declare a state of emergency.
He added that if the situation was beyond the country’s capacity, certainly a state of emergency would be declared.
In his words, “It is certainly an emergency situation but it depends on what you call a state of emergency. We have not reached a situation, in my view, where the relevant emergency management authorities are not being able to deal with this situation. I’m not aware that has happened.
“We have state federal and government emergency management and local government, I think they have not in any way said that what they have been doing, they are overwhelmed by it. Chades are very small countries and very small territories where people are living. The vast land in Chade is desert, and the effect it will have on people and the level of their preparedness and their ability to cope with the emergency situation is certainly nowhere Nigeria can do.
“I’m sure if the situation was beyond our capacity, certainly a state of emergency, whatever that may encompass, would have been declared in the country.”
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