The Coalition of Civil Society Group has urged the federal government to show seriousness in the efforts to tackle flooding, which has become a perennial occurrence in all parts of the country.
Coordinator of the group, Roland Odih, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said the government could show commitment by ending flooding, which has cost the nation billions of naira and countless human lives, by adequately funding the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
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He said such budgetary allocations could be monitored by the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to ensure that they were judiciously applied to get the desired results.
Odih urged the government to avoid taking reactionary measures after heavy rains had wreaked havoc on mostly poor citizens.
He stressed that there was a need to open up blocked drainages or create new ones, where none existed, noting that the CSOs would assist the agency in monitoring its spending so as to eradicate corruption.
The NIHSA recently warned that the country might experience serious flooding with calamitous consequences this year, urging Nigerians to make adequate preparations.
Communities in Gwagwalada were recently overwhelmed by flood which killed at least five persons, mostly women and children.a
