Currently, Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in North East Nigeria is being flooded, with millions of people affected by the unfortunate situation.
CONVERSEER reports that the flood, which started last weekend and increased in the early hours of Monday, 9th September 2024, in the Maiduguri metropolis, resulted from excess waters from the Alau Dam.
However, an investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, has alleged that journalists are currently falling for $1,000 grants to report the flooding as “Climate Change.”
In a post on X on Wednesday, Hundeyin wrote: “You just know there are 8 or 9 ‘Climate NGOs’ with Africa offices in Nairobi currently falling over themselves to offer $1,000 grants to some st*pid Nigerian journalists to report the flooding in Maiduguri as ‘climate change,’ tying in an argument against Africa using its own fossil fuels to industrialise.
“For the record, here are the facts: this disaster was caused by the collapse of Maiduguri’s 40-year-old Alau Dam, a dam constructed to shield Maiduguri from seasonal flooding along the Ngadda river basin. This dam already suffered structural damage due to high seasonal rainfall in 1992, 1994 and 2012, and never received the required maintenance to put it back into ideal operational shape.
“In other words, this is an infrastructure problem, not a ‘climate’ problem. It is a problem that will be solved by developing more capacity to build and adequately maintain infrastructure like Europe does – capacity that comes with cheap energy and industrialisation like Europe did.
“If you are the oloriburuku b*stard journalist in Abuja that is preparing to submit that $1,000 grant application to write nonsense for white people and hurt your people in the process, you will contract untreatable genital herpes and suffer until you die.”
CONVERSEER further reports that Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Tuesday, visited Maiduguri and Bakassi Camp, where displaced persons are being held.
He said assured them of prompt response through the collective efforts of the state government and federal government agencies such NEMA, Refugees Commission, NEDC and others.
In response to the unfortunate flooding situation, Zubaida Umar, DG NEMA, listed the areas impacted by the incident to include Shehuri, parts of the Government Residential Area (G.R.A.), Gambomi, Budum, Bulabulin, Adamkolo, Millionaires Quarters, Monday Market and Gwange.
“Borno State Government has opened up Bakassi Camp to accommodate those displaced by the flood. We are working, alongside the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, in providing humanitarian assistance to the distressed in the camp,” Umar said.