18
DAILY SUN Thursday October 18, 2012
The presidential intervention on floods F ollowing the recent flood that ravaged many parts of the country and destroyed lives and property, the Federal Government, last week, doled out N17.6 billion to states and agencies to cushion its effect. Out of this amount, N13.3 billion will be distributed to the states according to the impact of the flood on them while government agencies responsible for providing relief would receive the remaining N4.3 billion. Government also categorized the states into four groups for the purpose of disbursing the intervention fund. States in the first category such as Oyo, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Delta, Bayelsa and Anambra will be given N500 million each, while states in the second category – Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba, Cross River, Edo, Lagos and Imo – will receive N400 million each. Kwara, Katsina, Gombe, Ogun, Ondo, Ebonyi, Abia and Rivers states in the third category will each be given N300 million while Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Yobe, Enugu, Ekiti, Osun, Akwa Ibom and Borno states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the fourth category will get N250 million each. Also, the Ministry of Works will receive N2.6 billion; the National Emergency Management Agency, N1.16 billion and Ministry of Environment, N350 million; National Commission on Refugees, N150 million while the Presidential Committee on Disaster will get N100 million. President Jonathan also set up a National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation headed by business mogul, Aliko Dangote. Members of the committee include Olisa Agbakoba, Mike Adenuga, Tony Elumelu and Prof. Dora Akunyili. The government’s intervention is appropriate and we advise the states and agencies concerned to use the largesse to ameliorate the suffering of the flood victims. Let the states and the agencies allocated the huge sums put them to judicious use. The victims
should be taken care of. They should be given money to rebuild their homes and enough capital to set up businesses or farms. Now that members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have raised an alarm over the possibility of epidemic in the flood ravaged areas, there is the need for the health authorities to intervene and give people in the affected areas the necessary healthcare needs. Already, NMA officials hinted that there are outbreaks of cholera and typhoid in some of the camps set up for the flood victims. Apart from setting up the fund raising committee, government should put in place a technical team that will get to the root of the matter and design future contingency plans. The team should be made up of experts with technical knowledge of flood control mechanisms. The team should also liaise with the relevant government agencies on how to channel flood and avert future floods. We recall that before the current flood, weather experts at the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) warned of the disaster, the states to be affected and the need to evacuate those living along the disaster routes to safer places on high grounds. Such warning ought to have been heeded by those concerned but unfortunately it was not. The states affected heard the warning but did not heed the advice, hence, they were caught napping by the flood. The recent flood in the country has, more than any other thing, demonstrated that our leaders should begin to take weather predictions very seriously. We are suffering the effects of flood today because the concerned officials did not heed the weather warnings. It is wrong for government to wait for disaster to occur before responding to it. We should learn how to manage flood disasters. Our response to emergency situations including the present flood havoc is not the best. Let all the committees, concerned states and agencies work in concert to ameliorate the plight of flood victims.
COMMENT
LETTER
Nwosu: A trailblazer in journalism
HAVING survived a terrible armed robbery attack on Wednesday 23,2012,which he narrated personally in Wednesday FrankTalk column of Daily Sun of Wednesday 5th September 2012 which happened to be his birthday proper, one is tempted to speculate that Steve Nwosu, the 44 years old seasoned journalist and Editor of Daily Sun has something special with Wednesday. Just as the great scientist once shouted eureka upon making an invention, so also has Nwosu echoed ‘Yes, I am alive’ as his testimonial exclamation to God first for his mercies and grace and then to his uncountable fans. Steve Nwosu, like Paul McCartney, has joyously expressed “I am alive and well and unconcerned about the rumours of my death. But if I were dead, I would be the last to know”. As a 21st century journalist and a trail blazer, Nwosu thinks globally and acts globally. He is among the two persons that motivated me as a teenager to enter the university, the first was Mr. Chris Ebosie, whom I always watch closely as he knots his tie and dress up before going to office.
Nwosu on the other hand unknowingly sowed a seed in me by his smartness and ingenuity in journalism. And today he has become my mentor and role model. Besides, having understudied Steve, I have also come to believe that he is a good student of literature. He does not write in vogue that was why Paul McCartney captured him when he said “I think people who create and write, it actually does flow, just flow from their head, into their hand, and they write it down. It’s simple”. In my own opinion, I will like to say here that style is the man himself. Steve’s style is simple. Nwosu is not just an embodiment of excellence but also an epitome of philanthropy. In the same vein, whenever a man decides to carve his name on the hearts and not on stones, legacy is said to have been born. I have also joined thousands of people who are direct beneficiaries of Steve’s magnanimity and serendipity to share the humane stories that are traceable to him like those two men sharing the story of Jesus on their way to
THE DIRECTORATE TONY ONYIMA Managing Director /Editor-in-Chief FEMI ADESINA Deputy MD/Deputy Editor-in-Chief ETHEL NMEZI Executive Director, Finance/Admin ALAN JONES Executive Director, Technical PAUL ONYIA Executive Director Marketing ERIC OSAGIE Executive Director, Special Services EDITORIAL STEVE NWOSU Editor, Daily ONUOHA UKEH Editor, Saturday FUNKE EGBEMODE Editor, Sunday SHOLA OSHUNKEYE, Editor, Magazines ABDULFATAH OLADEINDE Deputy Editor, Daily FEMI ADEOTI Deputy Editor, Daily IKENNA EMEWU Deputy Editor, Nation’s Capital BRUCE MALOGO, Deputy Editor, Saturday BEIFOH OSEWELE, Deputy Editor, Magazines EMEKA OKOROANYANWU Group Business Editor CHIDI OBINECHE Political Editor CHRIS ANUCHA Acting Bureau Chief, ( South-South) CHIDI NNADI Bureau Chief, (South-East) YINKA FABOWALE Bureau Chief (South-West) ISMAIL OMIPIDAN Bureau Chief (North-west) EDITORIAL BOARD AMANZE OBI Chairman, Editorial Board CORPORATE SERVICES NETA NWOSU A.G.M. Corporate Services ADVERTISING/MARKETING DEMOLA ABIOYE Business Development Manager NNENA SHUAIB Asst. Manager Business Dev. (Abuja) SALES & OPERATIONS DAMOLA LAJUMOKE AGM, Sales & Operations NWOKOCHA OBI Sales & Distribution Manager REMI QUADRI Manager, Copy Sales FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION OBIOMA OGUKWE Accountant JOHNSON OGWUMIKE Internal Audit Manager PATRICK ENILAMA Principal Human Resource Manager
IFY ANYALECHI Procurement & General Services Manager
MISSION ‘To practise journalism in the classical newspaper tradition of presenting the news and features in an exciting style, with impact, objectivity and appeathat generate returns to all stakeholders: the society, the investors and the practitioners’
Emmaus. Nwosu was not born with silver spoon in his mouth, but achieved greatness by engaging his mind into the world of possibilities and by acknowledging and appreciating the roles by his destiny helpers on his onward journey to greatness. He kept his dreams alive having in mind the kind of not-too-rich family background he came from. He also understands that achieving anything requires faith and belief in oneself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. He rose from grass to grace because he believes that all things are possible for those who believe. He has literarily transformed the face of his family. He has taught many how to catch fish and discouraged idleness. He is a detribalized man in words and action, his marriage decision will attest to that. However, as an arrowhead in journalism, C.K.Webb has revealed Steve’s virtues when he said that “a writer does not dream of riches and fame, though those things are nice. A true writer longs to leave behind a piece of themselves, some things that withstand the test of time and is passed down for generations”. The irony of the whole thing is that Steve did not covet or crave for riches and fame but they came to him. When talking about the fame he now enjoys, you heard him extending gratitude to famous men who celebrate him as they poured in sympathy and empathy in
respect to his ordeal. They include: President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, Aliko Dangote, Dimeji Bankole etc. This shows that Steve really has left legacies in prints for generations to come. Nevertheless, his closeness to God has made him to make some grateful statement “I have tried to define and understand this ‘Grace’, but it takes a bigger shape each time I think I am getting closer to a working definition. I eventually gave up –content with the fact that Grace is something (usually, favours) which you don’t merit (or deserve) but which God in his infinite mercies, still lavishes on, anyway”. Moreover, Steve’s lucid writing pattern has become a principle coupled with his usual ability to build context in his write up before introducing new points has always given his works coherentordering principles. Steve like Ernest Hemingway has come to exhibit that “there is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”. I therefore end my story saying that Steve Nwosu is one of the greatest journalists in the world who play out the saying that “writers writ to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect”-Anais Nin. BY UZOMA JUDE chimajudy@yahoo.com 08032217442 CMYK