February 18, 2025

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The Minister Of Humanitarian Affairs Goofed

3 min read

 

 

 

 

Sadiya Umar Farouq, Nigeria’s minister for humanitarian affairs was a bit inhuman when she painted the picture of the flood havoc in Bayelsa State as a not- too- serious- experience.

 

 

Expectedly, she got some bashing for her arm-chair statement. Ironically, the minister did not bother to visit the state to see how millions of people in the state had either been displaced, or their property destroyed, or how hundreds of people have died or how schools have been forced to shut down because everywhere had gone under the flood waters.

 

She never visited the state to see how snakes would get into people’s homes, attacking the residents. She sat in her cosy office in Abuja and drew a conclusion that the flood situation in the state was not something to worry about.

 

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However, a few days after that inhuman posture, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria and Representative of the Secretary General, Mr. Matthias Schmale, was to visit the state. He was taken round parts of the state to see things for himself. And, after the tour of some of the flood sites, an obviously perplexed envoy was quoted as saying “thanks for allowing the team and I to join you and your team on the visits you are conducting around flood-affected communities. The first thing I will share publicly is that this is a crisis of major proportion. What I saw yesterday reminded me of the images I saw of Pakistan a few months ago and the world took note of that. A third of Pakistan, the size of the United Kingdom, was under water. The images reminded me of that.

 

“We need to be very clear. This is a crisis of major proportion that deserves everyone’s attention. Secondly, my respect to you and your team and, of course, your deputy governor. I think it takes considerable commitment to now be in your third week of visiting flooded communities, which I have not seen anywhere else.

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“What I saw yesterday was that you were not only providing material aid to communities but also moral support. I could see the way you and your team were received. There were signs and glimmers of hope around people’s faces and we should not underestimate that. Obviously, this is still immediate response phase and outlined some of the immediate needs.

 

 

“I think the next would be recovery and we will think through with United Nations team what we can do to advocate and mobilize resources for the recovery phase as people are able to get back to their normal lives.”

 

With the declaration by the envoy and considering the bashing she got from Nigerians, Farouq must have hid her face in shame and resolved to eat her words, but without an apology to the victims of flood, most of who are yet to know what to do with their lives.

 

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We view the hurried conclusions of the minister as the height of insensitivity to the plight of the flood victims. Her statement did not show any form of empathy from a woman who was supposed to show concern to a people who have suffered so much attack in the hands of flood waters.

 

 

The least the minister ought to have done was to keep quiet if she did not know what to say on the situation, rather than make statements that have ended up injuring the people the more.

 

 

We are of the opinion that the minister should not just eat her words by saying that Bayelsa is among the first 10 most impacted states, but should apologise openly to the government and people of Bayelsa State for her careless and inhuman declaration.

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She must also leave her comfort zone and visit Bayelsa State to see things for herself. Afterall, the comfort she enjoys today is made possible by the resources generated from Bayelsa State. She cannot be eating from the people and hurting them at the same time. This is a case of a woman’s inhumanity to a people.

 

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