Flooding and the daunting challenges facing the nation

Flooding can simply be defined as an overflow of water from water bodies such as rivers, lakes, dams, seas or even oceans to normal dry land.

In the event of flooding, the first casualties or point of call is the coastal dwellers, commonly referred to as those living in low lands. And flooding often described as an unwanted visitor, leaves bitter pills in the lips of its hosts on departure.

Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), saddled with the responsibility of reading, monitoring and alerting the people on possible natural disasters, which includes flooding before they occur, has been performing its statutory duties to the public over time, but the question is to what extent have people adhered to their warnings.

In 2022, over seven states were affected by flooding in Nigeria. The affected states include Anambra, Kogi, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Yobe States. Others are Kano, Adamawa and Niger States.

In 2023 currently, states like Rivers, Bayelsa, Kogi and Delta are almost submerged by flooding.

The question is how long will these people continue to suffer from flooding since it has become a recurring decimal?

At this juncture, it is important to look at the causes of flooding as it concerns our environment.

First on the list is prolonged rainfall over a period of time. No matter how long rain falls, so long as it has natural outlets to escape the chances of flooding occurring are very remote.

But when human activities, such as improper disposal of wastes on water channels, building of structures on waterways, among others obstruct free flow of water, there is bound to be flooding.

Flooding has been known to inflict negative impact or injuries on the areas it visited. Such impacts include loss of lives, property, hampering of access to essential public services etc. Diseases and outright poverty of the people affected by flooding are the obvious legacies of flooding when it rescinds.

In Rivers State for instance, the dwellers of the Orashi region, comprising Abua/Odual, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Ahoada East and West are usually worst hit by perennial flooding every year.

Kogi State is also another heavily flood impacted State in Nigeria. Commuters coming from the north and west of the country are already having their own share of the ugly experience of this year’s flooding, as movement across the state is said to difficult right now, no thanks to flooding.

Well, that is not unexpected when two major rivers in Nigeria converge at Lokoja, the confluence town. But that is not to say that if proper precautions are taken, such occurrence cannot be mitigated.

What are possible solutions to  this perennial flooding facing the nation?

First of all, our attitude to the environment we live matters a lot. A situation where full-fledged adults dispose wastes/refuse in the drains is an automatic call to flooding. Water, they say, must always find its level. This literally means that you cannot cage water that has a source and in most cases is coming from body of waters such as rivers, lakes, seas or even the ocean.

These days, it is a common place seeing gigantic structures built on natural water channels and in the advent of heavy rainfall, what is the result? Disaster, of course. And that has been our experience over time in Nigeria.

We will be doing ourselves a lot of good if we respect natural waterways and keep them clear, since we know that the rain must always fall. It is also important to build levees and dykes around rivers to keep water where it supposed to be. Trees and vegetation can equally be planted in our environment to absorb excess water and keep the people safe.

Just recently, the Federal Governnment declared a state of emergency on food security or insecurity in the country. This can only produce results when our lands are preserved and are free from flooding. It has been estimated that millions of money are being lost yearly to flooding in Nigeria for some avoidable reasons.

Therefore, our candid opinion is that precautionary measures must be taken to protect and preserve our environment from flooding. And by this, we mean that every conscious effort must be made to keep our water channels free for easy flow of water.

If peradventure such natural water channels have been tampered with, the impeding structures must be pulled down and cleared.

There is no logical or economic sense in building houses very close to streams, rivers or lakes, since we know that during rainy seasons, they must increase in size and overwhelm the surroundings with excess water. In a nutshell, lowlands should be avoided as much as we can as dwelling places.

Finally, we must take seriously periodic alerts issued by NIMET or similar agencies on flooding and other natural upsets for our own good.