Niger gov meets Buhari over roads, flood says his state going through hell

Governor Abubakar Sani Bello on Friday met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, over the state of bad roads as well as the recent devastating floods in Niger State. Governor Bello, while briefing State House reporters after the meeting, said the state government was forced to close Minna/ Bida road because heavy trucks were obstructing the ongoing construction work.

He said the government had to open the road in order not to create hardship to other parts of the country, especially the Northern states.

The governor said, “At the moment, we are facing difficult times because the rains are quite heavy, most sections of the road have failed completely and there is need to have some quick intervention to ease the difficulties being experienced by motorists in highways.”

The governor, while speaking on the flood that submerged houses, said: “At the moment, we have over 150 communities underwater in Niger State, thousands of hectares of land have been flooded, major investments like the Sunti sugar is completely underwater. They have lost over 2,500 hectares of Sugar Cane Plantation. And a vast majority of the facility itself is underwater.

“It is unfortunate it has happened, but I pray we will be able to get some quick intervention from the Federal Government so that we can support our local farmers that have lost their livelihood due to floods.”

Asked on the President response, he said, “The President believes more in action, he doesn’t talk too much, I think from his countenance I can say that he felt bad especially for Niger State.”