Nursing the wounds of climate crises: Flooding in Nigeria

Flooding is a yearly natural disaster in many parts of the country but this year, it has taken a different turn after being reported in more than 75 percent of the 36 states, including Anambra, Delta, Rivers, Kogi, Bayelsa, Niger, Benue, Adamawa, Jigawa, Edo, of the federation. About 1.4 million persons have been displaced and more than 600 persons confirmed dead.

So far, the flooding has cut off access roads to cities, rural areas, in-lands, and markets leading to an increase in food items, petroleum products, and cost of transportation. Essential services like hospitals, schools, workplaces, have been shut out completely. The death toll will keep rising if nothing is done swiftly to control the situation. The destruction of vast areas of farmlands across the country is expected to add to the high cost and scarcity of food, especially staple food like rice, yam, beans and maize.

The minister of water resources, Suleiman Adamu, insisted that the tributaries of the Benue River and heavy rainfall were responsible for the flooding rather than Lagbo Dam in Cameroon. Recall that earlier this year, the dam was opened for excess water to be emptied while Nigeria’s reservoirs were also projected to overflow by October ending. The National Emergency Management Agency warned of the possible extent of damage that will arise from this year’s flooding and urged the government to tackle the situation early enough. Surprisingly, this was not heeded.

Read also: Explainer: How recent floods will impact price of a bag of rice

With the 2023 elections by the corner, while some have taken to social media to lament their woes and request for help, most victims of flooding have resigned to fate. The emergency relief services and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps are not sufficient to address the monumental consequences of flooding in various parts of the country as victims far outweigh available resources. With insecurity being a national problem, IDP settlements across the country are at the mercy of kidnappers, lack quality health care, social and economic services leading to higher mortality and morbidity rates.

Nigeria has been at the receiving end of commiseration and assistance from the international community, including Japan, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), King Charles III, while President Buhari has approved 12000 metric tons of grains for victims and state governments taking steps to salvage the effect of flooding on their constituents as much as they can.

Torrential rains, clogging of drainage systems, deforestation, poor urban planning, overflowing river banks, and climate change are major causes of flooding in Nigeria. In the past, we have taken more of a response-based approach rather than a preventive approach to flooding which is the reason for the enormous loss of lives and property that has been recorded over the years.

The different ministries and agencies of the government who are responsible for the prevention of flooding must come together to create a viable disaster-resistant flowchart that will address the causative factors of flooding, institute a framework to monitor and evaluate the progress of work being done and synergize with surrounding countries to provide a sustainable and feasible solution to the problem of flooding in Nigeria.

Angelica is environment advocate