By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

A pro-democracy, human and environmental rights group, Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), has called on the people of Abia State to embrace continuous environmental discipline and caution to mitigate further disaster from flash flood.

The call is coming on the heels of the flash flood forecast by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet earlier in August 2021.

The group in a statement signed its Executive Director, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, reminded Abians that though the said forecast was for August, that there is still need for caution given the issue of climate change and its consequences already plaguing the world in this time of epidemics and pandemic.

FENRAD regretted that it is common to see surface runoff in Aba and Umuahia environs hours or days after the rain, noting that aside from dangers of increasing waterways and likelihood of flood, such scene is a threat to health and living condition of Abians.

The statement reads in part: “It is on this note that FENRAD calls on Abians to shun littering and throwing dirt or rubbish inside ditches, manholes and gutters as this act is capable of causing flooding these days when the annual rainfall is increasing. Safety, the Foundation says, lies in following the path of environmental friendliness.

“Also does FENRAD call on the state government to ensure completion of ongoing road and drainage constructions as these too could result in flooding, especially if delayed. A situation where, for example, open ditches and drainages collect rainwater which does not drain or run into any waterbay is already a looming disaster.

“Abians should be godly enough to treat this August prediction with carefulness and not be like those who drank, made merry and married only to be caught by the flood in Noah's days. If cleanliness is next to godliness, Abia, as God’s own state, should lead the park and have other states tag along.

“FENRAD calls on the state environmental protection agency, ASEPA to do the needful in ensuring that the sanitary condition of Abia is not in question as indiscriminate refuse dumping is another contributive factor to flooding. FENRAD wants the agency to be alive to its lawfully assigned duty of environmental protection by ensuring that receptacles are not left brimful littering the spot before evacuation.”

FENRAD also called on the state Ministry Environment, the State Environmental Protection Agency, the State Government and people of Abia to imbibe the culture of cleanliness at all times, describing it as the only way to environmental safety in these days of climate change and need for control.

“Though the prediction is for August, we should take our future and that of our generations unborn into our hands by seeking to enthrone a robust environmental regime in a sustainable manner, always,” the group added.

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