2023: Preventing flood in Nigeria

Nigerians had been advised earlier this year not to ignore warning forecast by the relevant weather monitoring and emergency management agencies about this year’s rainfall and flooding expectations.

Rainfall is known to be  responsible for rapid increase in dilapidated roads and floods in Nigeria, a situation which is a serious and a ‘must-to-be attended to’ before it gets out of hands.

The Managing Director/CEO of Leadway Assurance, Tunde Hassan-Odukale said this year’s weather forecast paints a bleak picture, especially against the backdrop of the prevailing global inflation and economic vulnerabilities and uncertainties.

Last year, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMET) issued a grim forecast. “2023 will witness an early onset of rainfall accompanied by flooding,” the agency said in its forecast published in January 2023.

NIMET also forecast extended rainfall in Gombe, Kaduna, Kwara, Enugu, Anambra, Ogun, and Lagos states. It said, “between June and July, the northern states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno would experience the beginning of rain, which will peak between July and September.”

According to federal authorities, the 2022 floods resulted in 662 deaths across 33 states as the deluge of rain washed away years of investments in agriculture, hundreds of hectares of farmlands, and properties estimated at trillions of Naira. The federal government estimated that over two million Nigerians were displaced and that the national economy lost well over N4.2 trillion to the floods.

Hassan-Odukale pointed to the Agricultural market, which contributed 26.97 per cent to the national GDP in 2022, as the most vulnerable sector to flood devastation. The National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, estimated that the industry lost about N700 billion to the 2022 flood.

A recent report by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) captioned, “Heavy Rainfall Forecast Bulletin No: 2023005,” warned Nigerians about the likelihood of flood, following the prospects of heavy rain in some states this year.  Also speaking on the issue, the Director-General, NiMet, Prof. Mansur Bakur, stated that flood is a natural event and with the increase in climate change activities, there will be more floods.

Also, the Director-General of Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA), Clement Nze, disclosed that 178 local government areas (LGAs) in 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were predisposed to experience severe flooding this year. It added that the level of flood between April and November 2023 is expected to be high in terms of impact on the population, livelihood, infrastructure and environment.

Since flood epidemic reared its ugly head in the country, every rainy season has become one that fills Nigerians with dread and trepidation given the outcomes. We consider it disturbing that in the face of this natural challenge, the government at all levels seems helpless in finding a sustainable solution to it. Nigerians expect proactive measures that will provide a lasting remedy to the problem. Instead, what they get are platitudes and relief materials that offer no relief to victims after each devastating episode.

It needs to be emphasised that Nigeria is not new to flooding and its attendant consequences since 2012 when the first of its kind happened. The country is still reeling from the impact of last year’s, 2022 floods which affected many parts of the country.

From the federal government’s data, the floods had displaced over 1.4 million people, killing over 603 people, and injuring more than 2,400 persons, with about 82,035 houses damaged, and 332,327 hectares of land affected. During such crisis, prices of food stuff rise astronomically at double digit rate at times exceeding 23 per cent with 19 million people exposed to food insecurity and 14.7 million children at risk of malnutrition.

Different experts explain that flooding is exacerbated in the country with the perennial release of water from the Lagdo Dam in neighbouring Cameroon. Excess water released from the dam cascades down River Benue and its tributaries, flooding communities in the states of Kogi, Benue as well as others in the northeast. When Lagdo Dam was constructed in 1982, there was an agreement with Nigerian authorities to build a second, twin dam in Adamawa State to contain the overflows. Known as the Dasin Hausa Dam project, it was to be situated in Dasin Village of the Fufore local government area, but was never built.

It is important to point out that the indiscriminate construction on natural flood plains and storm water paths together with poor drainage systems in many residential areas clog channels with waste. This has, in no small way, contributed to the challenge that perennial flooding pose. This is further aggravated by lax enforcement of environmental laws.

It is common that Nigeria concurrently experiences seasonal flooding, no relevant action has been adopted by the federal government to tackle the ugly situation except to issue warnings to those living close to riverine areas to vacate their dwellings.

Following this scenario, the government finds it more convenient to issue blame after every episodic devastation while it shuns its own responsibility. Sad as it may sound, those living close to the river banks include 70 per cent of the rural poor. Therefore, asking them to vacate their homes without providing them with an alternative is tantamount to rendering them homeless.

We urge on the government to tackle this issue of flooding once and for all by providing lasting and relevant solution to the challenge. This will entail putting in more efforts to enforce rules against building on drainages and water lines, just as it embarks on clearing drainages which are clogged with waste.

But while these concrete measures are pursued, the agencies of government concerned should employ effective ways and measures of creating awareness and disseminating information especially among those in the rural communities on how to behave to contain the negative impact of flooding.