FLOODS are likely to wreak havoc on people and properties this year. In an ominous update, the Federal Government has just written at least 31 governors about preventing flooding in their states between April and November. The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, stated this in the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook. The states should heed the warning and keep their people and properties away from flood disasters.
As a pointer, past and recent reports on flood disasters in Kano, Taraba, and Lagos among other states, left a sour taste in the mouth. So, the state and federal governments must join forces to see flooding as a national emergency.
At the event, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, an agency of the Federal Government, disclosed that a total of 148 local government areas in Lagos, Kano, Delta, and 28 other states had been categorized as high flood-risk areas. The minister said some areas in 31 states were categorized as high flood-risk locations, while others in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory would witness moderate flood.
“The high flood-risk states are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe,” the minister said.
But the remaining five states should also prepare for any eventuality.
Beyond the notice to relocate from flood-prone areas, it behoves the state governments to provide residents with safe and conductive spaces for relocation. Essential services, including relief materials, healthcare, and security must be provided to ameliorate the trauma of these families.
Citizens must also be prepared to relocate from their homes and comfort zones to prevent avoidable deaths and other losses.
Undoubtedly, flood disasters are unpalatable. In 2023, the National Emergency Management Agency stated that 45 persons died, while 171,545 persons were displaced in 13 states due to widespread flooding. Unfortunately, 22,666 homes were partially damaged; 5,358 other homes were destroyed. NIMET stated that the $4.6 billion bill led to a significant loss in Nigeria’s GDP.
In 2022, flooding claimed 662 citizens; 2.43 million others were displaced and 3,174 were injured nationwide, per NEMA. The financial losses were estimated at $9.12 billion by the Federal Government, and by a United Nations agency at $7 billion. A UN report stated that food insecurity was aggravated in the country as 569,000 hectares of farmland were destroyed by the flood.
According to the then Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, 178 LGAs in 32 states were declared “highly probable flood risk states.”
Although climate change remains a global concern, leading to flash floods, droughts, forest fires, and cyclones, the government must not make excuses. They need to take lessons from previous flooding and replace their nonchalance with strategic actions and campaigns. They must do all they can to avoid the repetition of losses of lives and properties.
The citizens must play their part by clearing drainage in their vicinity, cultivating good waste disposal and environmentally friendly culture. To entrench this, the government must place strict surveillance and enforce stiff penalties against erring residents.
State governments should demolish structures erected on flood paths to enable rainwater to drain appropriately.
NGOs in the environmental niche should activate campaigns distilled in local languages through the media to prepare citizens for the flood.
The federal and state governments should be proactive in the deployment of ecological funds to provide guardrails against natural disasters. This must be used for pre-emptive measures such as building bridges, desilting rivers, evacuating canals and drainage, and building dams and levees. The dams would help preserve excess rainfall to irrigate farmland during the dry season.
The government must fully embrace its onerous duty to safeguard lives and properties.
