At the recent official unveiling of the 2023 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO), the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, advised Nigerians to get prepared for heavy flooding this year. Due to the rise in sea level, urban cities across the country would reportedly experience flash and urban flooding while states along the coastal regions would experience coastal flooding.
According to Adamu, about 178 local councils in 32 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, fall within the Highly Probable Flood Risk Areas. Some 224 local councils in 35 states, including the FCT, fall within the Moderately Probable Flood Risk Areas while the remaining 402 local councils fall within the Probable Flood Risk Areas. The Highly Probable Flood Risk States are Adamawa, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.
Flooding has been an annual thing in Nigeria. In 2012, the devastation flooding cost the nation amounted to over N2 trillion in losses. Last year, almost the entire country witnessed the problem. It reportedly affected about 34 states, impacted over 2.5 million people, killed over 600 people and forced over 1.5 million others to leave their homes. More than 200,000 houses were either partially or fully damaged. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of farms, including crops, were damaged. In a state like Nasarawa, the flood destroyed one of the largest rice farms in Nigeria, the Olam Rice Farm. The loss for the company was said to have amounted to about $15 million. Many people lost their entire possessions. It shot up the number of people suffering from food insecurity in Nigeria.
The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mathias Schmale, said last year that the staggering devastation caused by the 2022 floods in Nigeria and the profound impact on people’s lives were a stark reminder of the humanitarian, development and socio-economic cost of the climate crisis on people who did the least to contribute to climate change. Worldwide, flooding has also caused catastrophic consequences. Last year, many countries, including Australia, China, Pakistan, Indonesia and Portugal, battled devastating floods. In Pakistan, for instance, nearly 1,500 lives and about $30 billion worth of properties were lost to the disaster.
Last year, about 43 people lost their lives to flash flooding that ravaged eastern Kentucky, United States of America, in July. Climate change, land reclamation and poor physical planning of urban centres are part of the causes of flooding. Tidal surges, river or dam overflow, constant heavy rainfall, volcanic eruptions as well as poor waste disposal could also cause flooding. Despite early warnings, some state and local governments do not take precautionary measures to prevent this menace. Before the Water Resources minister’s recent alert, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had warned in November last year that there would be worst flooding this year if precautions were not taken. The Director-General of the Agency, Mustapha Mohammed, had lamented that the early warnings given to states last year by NEMA were ignored.
Also, the Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services (NIHSA), Clement Nze, stated last year that state and local governments disregarded adequate and timely warnings and weather advisories issued by his agency and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) to avert flood disaster in 2022. He said the Minister of Water Resources earlier last year also wrote letters to state governors informing them of the impending flood and the specific locations in their states they should watch out for. He also advised on the necessary measures to take, but some of them did nothing.
But, we must brace up to the challenge this year. Federal and state governments should ameliorate the problem by ensuring the dredging of major rivers and de-silting of canals which contribute to the flooding. The State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) should be adequately prepared and funded for the challenges ahead. We urge every state government to put things in order. The relevant authorities in each state should begin now to plan on how to relocate people living in lowlands to safe places. They should also plan emergency relief programmes.
Citizens have a role to play. They should desist from blocking drainage with refuse. Such drainage systems should be opened up to allow flood waters to flow easily. Besides, there is need for more dams to harvest flood water. Flooding, if well harnessed, could be used for agriculture. It will help a lot in crop and fish farming and can engender all-season farming. The National Orientation Agency should embark on public enlightenment campaigns to educate people on the dangers of blocking the drains with wastes. There is also the need to clean up the water channels before the flooding will set in. People living on flood-prone areas should begin to make alternative plans of relocating. We shouldn’t wait until it starts happening. We have to be prepared and put proactive measures in place now.