On April 14 2014, dozens of heavily armed Boko Haram insurgents stormed a government-run boarding secondary school in the town of Chibok in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, abducting over 200 schoolgirls from their dormitories. It took nearly a month for the Federal Government to officially react to the incident, by which time the damage had already been done. The verdict of watchers of events in Nigeria remains that had government reacted early enough, the Chibok girls, who are still missing up till today, could have been found and rescued.
The government’s reaction to the Chibok issue signposts the general attitude of Nigerian government to disaster management.
For instance, many communities have been under the threat of floods and erosion for many years now. Government response to these threats, as usual, has been very slow. Although attention of government has been drawn to the plight of people in such places, nothing practical has been done to arrest the ugly situation.
Recently, residents of some parts of Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, were rendered homeless and many also lost their lives following a steady downpour of rain which lasted for several hours.
The torrential rain blocked drainage channel, cutting off some highways. The victims expressed displeasure over alleged negligence of government as it failed to rectify blockages to the drainage system before it degenerated to the state that resulted in the casualties. Over 2000 houses were said to have been affected by the development.
When in 2012 Nigeria, for the very first time, attracted global attention over devastating flood incidence that sacked many communities, killed many people, washed away farmlands and rendered many of the victims homeless, nobody stopped to think that such catastrophe could happen again in the country just two years after.
This year, the floods are back. This year’s flooding could best be described as a national tragedy with about 53 persons reportedly killed and about 100,420 others displaced across the country, thereby exacerbating the problem of internally displaced persons (IDPs), majority of whom are victims of the raging terrorist activities in the North Eastern part of the country.
Thousands of houses, farmlands and property worth billions of naira have been lost to flood disasters in many local government areas affected in the states. About 13 states of the federation have been affected and these include Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Jigawa, Adamawa, Imo, Delta, Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi with varying degrees of impact and losses.
The statistics is horrifying and it includes 1,220 families displaced and 4,501 farms destroyed in Cross River State as at October 8; 3 killed and 60 houses damaged in Kebbi by August 19; 25,950 people affected and 5,495 homes destroyed in Kebbi as at October 2; two persons killed and cash crops destroyed in Kano by June 24; 4 killed and over 60 houses submerged in Imo, among many others.
There is something curious about this year’s incident and that is its prevalence in the northern part of the country which, under normal circumstances, is an arid zone with scanty annual rainfall. Observers however, attribute the incidents in some of the affected Northern states to water from the Cameroon dam.
By the last count and, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), no fewer than 11 persons were killed by flood in Sokoto and Zamfara States, noting that 10 of the victims died in Zamfara while a seven-year old boy died at Kuchi village in Kebbe Local Government Area of Sokoto.
It is also estimated that more than 86, 710 hectares of farmland valued at N1.58 billion were destroyed in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara alone and that a total of 20, 477 homes are also affected, rendering about 50, 000 people homeless.
NEMA says that eight out of the 14 local government areas are affected in Zamafara and these include Shinkafi, Talata Mafara, Gusau, Anka, Tsafe, Bungudu, Zurmi and Maradun while 8, 540 houses and 6,450 hectares of farmland valued at N260 million have been destroyed in the affected areas in the state.
“Eleven out of the 23 local governments in Sokoto are affected by the flood, while two communities in Wurno and Goronyo Local Governments have been evacuated and that the other local governments affected are Rabah, Kware, Binji, Kebbe, Gwadabawa, Wamakko, Bodinga, Sokoto North and Sokoto South”, the agency said.
Within the state also 24,750 persons and 6, 922 houses have been affected, with 42,800 hectares of farmland valued at N750 million either totally destroyed or badly affected while in Kebbi, 10 out of the 21 local government areas have also been affected by the disaster.
In the Southern part of the country, Anambra, Imo and Delta states are the worst hit by this year’s flood. Only recently, four persons died while many sustained varying degrees of injuries, following a flood incident that swept through some communities in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State. Several hectares of farmland were completely submerged, even as tons of farm produce harvested by farmers were equally lost to the flood.
Slow government reaction worsens impact
Nigeria however, is not the only country affected by natural disasters. Every year, there are more than 300 natural disasters in the world, which wreak havoc and leave blood and tears on their trail. The difference, however, is in the response to these tragedies.
The impact of disasters in this part of the world is always grave because leaders at all levels of government pay little or no attention to the issues of the environment. Again, the citizenry is a major challenge because nobody heeds the warnings from environmentalists and environmental agencies.
“Rain fall alone does not necessarily cause flood, rather human factor like dumping of refuse in creeks and canals which block waterways result into flooding,” Felix Obuah, sole administrator, Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), noted, warning that people should respect and protect their environment to avoid disasters.
Slow response rate to emergencies in the country is another major reason impact is always heavy. Agencies responsible for emergencies are normally tardy and generally bereft of ideas of modern approach to emergency situations unlike what obtains in other countries of the world.
Examples from other lands
Elsewhere, management of natural disaster emergencies is not left to government or government agencies alone. Rather it involves everyone working together – all levels of government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society groups, citizens serving as volunteers, residents of affected areas, etc.
In China, one of the countries most affected by natural disasters and where, in 2014 alone, according to China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs estimates, natural disasters killed 1,851 people, left 433 missing, and affected some 390 million people across the country, NGOs have played key roles in disaster preparedness and management.
The Asia Foundation records that one year after a magnitude-8.0 earthquake hit Wenchuan City in the country’s Sichuan province on May 12, 2008, claiming the lives of 69,226 people and leaving at least 1,486,407 without safe shelter, the One Foundation, an independent public fundraising foundation in China, launched an NGO Disaster Response Alliance to strengthen cooperation and networking among NGOs, volunteers, media, business, and the public in future disaster responses. The Alliance has since become the biggest voluntary alliance active in disaster response in China, responding to local emergency disasters in cross-province/district missions.
According to The Asia Foundation, when on April 20, 2013 a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Ya’an, a city located close to the area heavily impacted by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the Alliance, armed with experience gained from the Wenchuan earthquake and other natural disasters, responded within 30 minutes of the quake, dispatching response teams from Guizhou, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces to the affected area with supplies. The very next day, the first batch of relief supplies arrived in Ya’an and quilts were delivered to local affected villagers.
Also following the Ya’an earthquake, the Narada Foundation initiated the 4.20 Joint Operation of Chengdu Charity Organizations, which provided on-scene coordination and management, logistical and capacity building services to emergency response teams and volunteers, and needed services, like food and other daily necessities to the most vulnerable populations in Ya’an, such as women, children, and the elderly. The joint operation quickly expanded from a handful of small Chengdu-based NGOs to an alliance made up of 162 NGOs and voluntary organisations.
In Australia, disaster management arrangements are formed around three levels of government – local, state and the Australian Government. Specifically in Queensland – which was ravaged by a series of floods beginning in December 2010 through January 2011, affecting at least 90 towns and over 200,000 people and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities – disaster management arrangements are based upon partnerships between government, government-owned corporations, non-government organisations (NGOs), commerce and industry sectors and the local community. These arrangements recognise each level of the disaster management arrangements working collaboratively to ensure the effective coordination of planning, services, information and resources necessary for comprehensive disaster management.
In the December 2010-January 2011 floods, for instance, more than 55,000 volunteers reportedly registered to help clean up the streets of Brisbane, the state capital, with thousands more unregistered volunteers wandering the muddy streets with gumboots and mops. Government was also quick to respond. A large mobilisation of the Australian Defence Force was activated and a relief fund created. Series of evacuations were also carried out, with residents actively cooperating. 1,000 people were initially evacuated from Theodore (where major flooding persisted for more than two weeks) and other towns. The military transported residents by helicopter to an evacuation centre at Moura. At the peak of the flooding, 80 percent of Emerald town was flooded, the worst the town ever experienced, and 1,200 of its residents registered as evacuees.
At Rockhampton, which had nearly a week to prepare for an expected flood peak from the Fitzroy River which courses through the centre of the city, the airport was closed on 1 January and a metal flood barrier erected around the terminal to prevent flood-borne debris from causing damage to the structure; an evacuation centre was set up at the Central Queensland University, while the Bruce Highway leading south out of Rockhampton was closed to traffic. Chinchilla and Jericho were also inundated, and at least 40 residents were evacuated from Chinchilla.
In the aftermath, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority was formed to coordinate the rebuilding programme beyond the initial taskforce and a Commission of Inquiry established to investigate all matters related to the floods.
But while these responses are good, The Asia Foundation says “preparation and risk management are key to minimising immediate and long-term damage” caused by natural disasters.
This was what worked In Japan when, on March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake shook the northeastern part of the country, unleashing a savage tsunami that left in its wake total damages estimated by Japanese government at $300 billion, with confirmed deaths of 15,891 (as of April 10, 2015), and 2,500 people reported missing.
According to reports, “Residents of Tokyo received a minute of warning before the strong shaking hit the city, thanks to Japan’s earthquake early warning system. The country’s stringent seismic building codes and early warning system prevented many deaths from the earthquake, by stopping high-speed trains and factory assembly lines. People in Japan also received texted alerts of the earthquake and tsunami warnings on their cellphones.” The country has also recently unveiled a newly installed, upgraded tsunami warning system.
Zebulon Agomuo, Chuka Uroko and Chuks Oluigbo
