Deacon Peter Igbifa, president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, has urged all levels of governments, organisations, international oil companies (IOCs), and people to assist the flood victims in the Niger Delta.
Igbifa claimed that the devastating floods in the Niger Delta are now a yearly occurrence, forcing millions of Ijaw and Niger Delta residents to flee their homes and accept their fate.
The IYC President, who made this claim in a statement on Friday, bemoaned that the continuation of the status quo following each flooding season is evidence enough that the federal government is unwilling to address the issues.
Igbifa lauded the Bayelsa State Governor Senator Douye Diri for releasing funds to assist victims and call on other state governors in the region and political big-wigs to follow suit to give succour to the near hopeless people of the region affected by the flood.
He said: “The 2022 flood has shown that the Niger Delta region is extremely affected by climate change, especially Ijaw communities, virtually every part of Bayelsa State is affected bringing untold humanitarian crises of critical magnitude hence, it is incumbent on all related agencies of the federal government to rise with urgency to the situation at hand.
“I want to plead with the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, Boss, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and other relevant agencies and institutions to partner with Bayelsa State and the other Niger Delta States to curtail excesses of flood impact on the people who are already grappling with a battered environment due to oil and gas activities.
“Sufficient relief materials in the form of foodstuffs and unconditional cash transfers to the millions of people who are equal stakeholders in the Niger Delta should top the chart of the state governments, PAP Coordinator and others.
“Similarly, well-meaning citizens, International Oil Companies, IOCs, should rise up to the occasion and give the people the hope they desire as exemplified by the Miracle Governor of Bayelsa State.”