The House of Representatives has appealed to the Federal Government to urgently assist communities ravaged by flood across the country.
The lawmakers believed such assistance would help to reduce the hardship of the people of the affected communities caused by the loss of crops and other means of livelihood.
The appeal followed the unanimous adoption of a motion sponsored by Rep. Aliyu Pategi (Kwara-APC) on the need to assist the affected communities.
Pategi listed the states ravaged by the flood to include Kwara, Kebbi, Rivers, Niger and Bayelsa.
He said that communities close to major rivers in Nigeria affected by flood be treated as disaster zones.
“All the farmers on the floodplain of these rivers are affected by the flood this year and most of their crops, that are almost ready for harvest, were washed away,’’ he said.
Pategi added that the flood destroyed most farmlands in Kwara, including the state owned Tada-Shonga Agricultural Project.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Anchor Borrowers Scheme financed the project with a N2 billion loan.
He, therefore, urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist the affected communities.
He said that government should give farm implements and other agro-inputs to the flood victims to position them for the next planting season.
Pategi also appealed to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to earmark N1.5 billion in the 2018 appropriation for the completion of the Tada-Shonga irrigation project.
The House resolved that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) provide relief items like building materials to the affected communities.