NEDC distributes relief materials to victims of flood disaster in Maiduguri
By Ladi Dapson, Maiduguri
Mohammed Goni Alkali,the Managing Director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) has distributed relief materials to victims of the recent flood disaster in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Goni Alkali said the materials include 10,000 bags of rice, 10,000 cartons of spaghetti, 15,000 branded mats, 15,000 blankets, 10,000 pieces of buckets and wrappers, 5,000 cartons of cooking oil, 5,000 packs of children’s clothes, and 7,500 pieces of mosquito nets.
“We are releasing 200,000 bags of rice and 150,000 cartons of spaghetti. Others include 250,000 cartons of cooking oil, 200,000 pieces of blankets, 200,000 pieces of mats, 30,000 pieces of brucades, 50,000 pieces of wrappers, 65,000 pieces of children’s wears, and 20,000 pieces of mosquito nets to the six states of the Northeast.”
Alkali added that the commission will use the political structures in the Northeast, consisting of 18 senatorial districts, 48 federal constituencies, and 1,024 state constituencies, to distribute the relief materials to the flood disaster victims in each of the six states.
The commission’s interventions are short-term, but Alkali noted that they have a policy dimension for medium and long-term intervention plans for the overall development of the region.
Regarding the collapse of Alau Dam, Alkali said that the commission had already awarded a contract for the renovation and reconstruction of the water spillage and desilting of the dam before the flood disaster.
However, with the recent development, the commission will review the contract and re-award it for the complete rehabilitation of the dam structures damaged by the flood, which is worse than the last one in December 1994.
The relief materials were handed over to the state government at the NEDC warehouse in Flour Mills Area, Maiduguri, immediately after the press briefing.
