National Assembly to take strategic decisions this week
By Demola Akinyemi – Ilorin
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Economic and Planning, Hon. Abdulganiyu Saka Cook Olododo has said that Nigerians lukewarm attitude to tree planting and bastardisations of Masterplan at local, state, and federal government levels are largely responsible for the crisis of flooding ravaging different parts of the country during which many lives were lost and properties worth millions of naira destroyed.
In order to avert the current flood crisis in the country, the lawmaker who urged governments at all levels to ensure that masterplans of each community are strictly followed and that residents must also cultivate the habit of tree planting said the National assembly would this week take Strategic decision for the federal government to implement towards solving the flood crisis nationwide.
Olododo who represent Ilorin East/Ilorin South Federal constituency of Kwara state at the National assembly stated this in Ilorin at the weekend during the distributions of palliative worth several millions of naira to the victims of the 194 houses affected by the recent rainstorms in his federal constituency as part of efforts to personally ameliorate their suffering.
On the possible solutions to avert future occurrences of the problem, the lawmaker said that “ It is high time states, local and the federal government follow masterplans of their respective areas of jurisdiction.
“It is worrisome that some states and local govt councils in Nigeria have bastardised the masterplans of their areas, this is having a serious effect on our environment and thus brought incessant floods in the country, thus causing serious problems for us in this country.
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“Both the state, local and the federal government must follow masterplan, if there is no masterplan, there is no way we will not have this kind of problem in the country.
“Also, we must encourage tree planting in our homes, and in Nigeria, these are the solutions to the problem.
He also said,“Planting trees is a way of a windbreaker and it always averts certain things. We must have trees in our homes and areas so as to protect our buildings and if this is done, the problem of incessant rainstorms and floods will be reduced and every Nigerian would have a lease of life during any raining season”.
On the planned intervention of the House of Representatives, this week Olododo said, “Last week immediately I heard about this rainstorm that ravaged my constituency and the Kwara state in general, I planned to put a motion at the floor of the national assembly as a matter of emergency to the leadership of the house that I want to lay a motion on it but getting to the house last week Tuesday, we discovered that it is not only in Kwara state, almost 34 states were affected by the rainstorms.
“The leadership of the house now said that all other members of the house that have the same problems from their respective states should harmonise their situations together and this week Tuesday, all these will be presented at the floor of the house and we will make representation to the federal government, which will now come up with the palliative to the affected states and solutions to the problem ”.
The lawmaker also empowered 200 women and youths with sewing machines, Make-up, and Hairdressing tools that were recently trained to acquire skills at the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute(ARMTI) in Ilorin.
According to him, “the current members of the national assembly are identified with the present sufferings of the people of some states of the federation that are affected by the rainstorms and floods and would do everything possible within their ambit to initiate moves that would ameliorate the situation”
He said that the members of the national assembly are seriously committed to rising to their needs and all hands would be on deck to initiate programmes that would enable the federal government to come to their aid so as to enable them to live better lives”
Olododo however assured the people of the constituency of more intervention programmes saying that “ I will continue to rise to your needs because of the love you have for me which made you vote for me in the last general elections.
