Kwara ACReSAL visits Shonga and environs, conducts on-the-spot assessment of flooded farmlands

 

With the recent flood occurrence in Shonga , Edu Local Government of Kwara State, the Kwara Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (KWACReSAL) on Tuesday visited the affected community for an on-the-spot assessment of the rice farmlands and communities that were submerged by the flood incident.

The visit by KWACReSAL is coming days after a high-powered delegation of the Kwara State Government visited the community to condole with them and establish the cause of the unusual flooding as well as to conduct reconnaissance survey to ascertain the level at which the flood has caused havoc on both lives and properties of the people of Shonga community, and it environs.

Led by the State Project Coordinator (SPC), Alhaji Shamsideen Olatunbosun Aregbe, the first port of call for the KWACReSAL team was the palace of the Emir of Shonga, Dr. Haliru Ndanusa Yahaya, to offer condolences on the sad incident.

In his remarks, Alhaji Aregbe, who expressed sadness over the flooding, said the KWACReSAL team is in Shonga on the directive of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to complement the State Government's Committee efforts, and in actualisation of its mandates of building a climate-resilient society and providing contingency emergency response to victims of disasters, especially environment-related ones.

The SPC stated that ACReSAL is a Kwara State project supported by World Bank with a mission to restore degraded landscapes, protect the environment, among other activities in different components and Sub-components in 19 States of Northern Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

“We are here on the directive of our proactive Governor, His Excellency, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. Your Royal Highness may wish to recall that His Excellency had already dispatched a high-powered government delegation to visit Shonga since the flood incident occurred. ACReSAL is here to complement their efforts”

“I am here with our technical team; we will deploy advanced technology, including the drone, to assess the flooded areas and the extent of damage in order to proffer solutions to the problem. His Excellency brought in the ACReSAL Project through the World Bank and the Federal Government to develop our State and provide succour to the people on environmental disasters. We are fully committed to achieving this.” he added.

The Coordinator then assured that the full report of the findings will be made available to His Excellency, the Executive Governor as well as the World Bank in creating assistance as well as viable environmental and ecological solutions to the problem. 

Representing the Emir of Shonga, the Nakodi of Shonga, Alhaji Sulaiman Baiwa Yahya, commended Governor AbdulRazaq for his swift response to the flood incident.

He also thanked the Kwara ACReSAL team for their visit to Shonga to assess the impact of the flooding.

Yahya said over 5,000 farmers were estimated to have been affected, with many of them taking loans for their investments in the rice farms.

The ACReSAL team was briefed that the flood has claimed a life as a result of shock and also took over 3000 hectares of rice plantation involving 5000 farmers owning the investments and making some households displaced.

The Community appealed to relevant Stakeholders to come to their aid in proffering  lasting solutions with a view to averting any future occurrence.

The palace later appointed two community stakeholders to lead the KWACReSAL team to the scenes of the flooding.

Following physical observations and engagements with members of the community, the technical team flew the drone to get a comprehensive view and understanding of the  degree, extent and impact of the flood incident.

On the State Project Coordinator’s entourage were the Project Engineer, Engr. Hussein Abubakar; Environmental Safeguard Officer, Mr. AbdulRahim Mohammed Abubakar; GIS/MIS Officer, Mr. Sherif Olagunju; Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Mr. Saka Rauf Anifowose and the Communication Officer, Taiwo Okanlawon.

Communication Unit

Kwara ACReSAL

January 30, 2025

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