Abuja/Katsin/Sokoto/Maiduguri — Eleven states in the north are faced with a serious threat of drought, the National Emergency Management Agency warned yesterday.

NEMA, which is the coordinating agency for disasters and emergencies in Nigeria, listed the states as Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi and Adamawa.

Already, some of these states have begun to initiate measures to cushion the adverse effects of the impending catastrophe.The Director-General of NEMA, Air Vice-Marshal Mohammed Audu-Bida (rtd), disclosed after a quarterly meeting of the Zonal Coordinators of the agency in Abuja at the weekend that this early warning alert was coming just as the cessation of rainfall was being witnessed in some parts of the country.

According to Bida, the 11 states have been sent early warning letters, detailing local government areas that may be affected and the population of the people in the areas.

Audu-Bida said the alert became necessary as a precautionary measure that would guide the states to make adequate planning, including sensitisation of farmers, contingency stockpiling and networking with local institutions for effective mitigation on likely negative consequences of the climate condition.

He regretted that few states took the advice of the agency early in the year when NEMA sent a warning to governors on likely flooding before the commencement of the rainy season that was heavy and erratic in various parts of the country. He said consequences of the inaction badly affected cities and towns in coastal areas, with floods rendering over 150,000 Nigerians homeless and property worth millions of naira lost.

Audu-Bida said apart from relying on relevant institutions like NIMET in weather forecasting, it is equipped with the latest remote sensing technology to forecast climatic changes and detect disaster-prone spots, as well as state-of-the-arts equipments that use satellite technology including Geographic Information System (GIS), Laboratory and CORSPAS-SARSAT in the Mission Control Centre (MCC) at the agency's headquarters in Abuja.

Meanwhile, Katsina State government has set up a rapid response team to continue monitoring the situation. The committee, according to the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Sani Makana, had instructed the agriculture surveillance officers in the state to be alert and report any suspicious scenario to the ministry.

Makana stressed that for now government cannot promise anything to the affected communities until adequate data on the real situation was obtained.

The affected areas, he disclosed, were in Mai'adua, Zango, Sandamu, Kaita, Baure, Mashi, Mani, Jibia and Dutsi local governments. These areas produce crops such as groundnuts, beans and millet for local consumption and export to other parts of the country.

Recently, while on a visit to the affected communities, Leadership observed that most of the farms in the most fertile areas in these communities were invaded by an insect locally called Wiwi, which capitalsed on poor rainfall in the area to destroy 80 per cent of farms in the area. However, some communities faced the menace of Quela birds invasion.

Considering the implication of the trend, Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema, set up a committee to go round the affected areas and assess the extent of the menace. Although the committee had attempted to downplay the extent of the damage, its conclusion was that the situation was a disaster that required urgent attention.

The district head of Mai'adua, Galadiman Daura, Engineer Ahmadu, warned that the area might not produce enough food to feed people. He said, "If you look at the farms that were not affected by the insects and Quela birds, still their prospective yield is not good enough."

Farmers in Ka Ki Rana village who spoke with Leadership through their spokesman, Malam Isiyaku Saleh, said farmers in the area had already lost 80 per cent of their crops. Saleh, added that those who could not cope with the trend had fled the area to the southern part.

He warned, "As for me I have nothing left, so I am now planning to move to the southern part of the country. I will leave my family behind. If I am able to find something I could send it to them and if things get bad they should cater for themselves."

A lecturer in the Department of Geography at the Umaru Musa Yar'Adua University, Katsina, Malam Lawal Abdulrashid, told our correspondent that he was not surprised by the drought trend since, according to him, "there is no weather station to monitor the trend of rainfall in the state."

He added, "To effectively monitor rainfall situation, you need a weather station that has been in operation for at least 30 years and has adequate data on rainfall pattern within this period."

Abdulrashid noted that to check such disaster there was the need to establish these weather stations in every 20 to 30 kilometres throughout the state. He called for the revival of indigenous knowledge in addressing most of the factors that encourage droughts.

In Sokoto State, a visit to some farmlands by LEADERSHIP yesterday showed that farm products like sorghum, guinea corn and beans were the worst affected. Their stems and leaves shrink and turn yellowish, an indication of starvation in plants.

Similarly groundnuts, potatoes and some edible crops show a sign of drought on them, a situation that resulted to a nightmare for farmers who cultivate such cash crops.

Speaking to our correspondent in his farm in Ambursa, a medium scale farmer, Alhaji Garba Ango, attributed the situation to laxity of some farmers who refused to plant their crops when the first rains set in.

"God is in control of everything, and we believe that he is the one to determine when and where should have rain water. So people should seize the advantage of utilizing whatever comes their way at the right time," he explained.

Ango disclosed that to the Fadama farmers who cultivate rice alongside other crops, the effect of drought would be minimal due to the nature of the environment, coupled with proximity of river water.

He recalled that in previous years when all farm products would have ripened before the rainfall thinned out, this year was different as Sorghum and guinea corn were yet to ripe and still needed rainfall. He, however, advised that farmers should not give up hope. Already, such crops are desert plants that could survive under a severe condition, but should not expect higher yield," he said.

The Sokoto State government was able to procure farm inputs this year that included fertilizers, pesticides and controlled the menace of Quella birds that rampage the fields. These were distributed to farmers at affordable prices, all with the view to ensure bumper harvest.

LEADERSHIP observed that the shortage of rainfall in the state has caused inflation of some food crops commonly used as food, such as maize, whose bag used to sell at N5,000 now sell at N7,000; a bag of Sorghum and guinea corn in September sold at N5,800, but now sell at N7,200 each.

The skyrocketing of the food items, according to a grain seller at the Sokoto Central Market, Alhaji Umaru Na Kola, was as a result of a hike in prices they experienced on the commodity right from where they import them in the neighbouring Niger Republic, Adamawa and Kaduna States.

"So there is nothing we can do rather than to increase the prices so that we make little profit," he said with an air of resignation.

Efforts to secure comments from officials of the state ministry for Agriculture, and the deputy governor, who is the overseer of affairs in the ministry proved abortive as the officials were said to be on weekend leave in their respective villages at the time of filing this report.

In the north-east state of Borno, the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Barrister Isa Audu Buratai, said the government has purchased enough grains to assist farmers who were hit by drought in most parts of the state.

Speaking to our correspondent on the preparedness of the government to cushion the effects of drought in the state and those whose farmlands were destroyed by Quella birds, Buratai stated, "Drought is a natural phenomenon that cannot be controlled by state governments, but since Borno state is prone to drought every year we set aside special funds to assist farmers whenever such natural disasters occur."

The commissioner said apart from the drought, the government also purchased pest control chemicals and gave them out farmers to assist them in controlling the menance of Quella birds.