This year, like previous years, Nigerians were told to brace up for another round of flooding that would likely affect their various communities across the nation.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Engr. Joseph Utsev while unveiling the 2025 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO), announced that 1,249 communities in 176 local government areas (LGAs) across 30 states and the FCT fall within high-risk flood zones this year, while an additional 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs face moderate flood risks. From Ojodu Building collapse site, Utsav identified the high flood-risk states as Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo and Jigawa.
Others are Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.
He also predicted that coastal and riverine areas such as Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers and Ondo would experience flooding due to the rise in sea level and tidal surge, and this would impact fishing, wildlife habitation and river navigation.
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“The 2025 Annual Flood Outlook shows that 1,249 communities in 176 local government areas in 30 states and FCT fall within the High Flood Risk Areas, while 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs in 36 states of the federation and the FCT fall within the Moderate Flood Risk Areas.
“Flash and urban flooding are projected in major cities in the country due to high rainfall intensities, low attention to the management of water facilities, including drainage systems, waterways and a lack of flood resilience structures.
The prediction and devastating consequences of flooding have now become a yearly occurrence in Nigeria. Between April and September in 2024, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported that 29 states were hit by flooding with millions of people affected. It said 259 deaths were recorded while 625, 239 people were displaced. Perhaps, more devastating incident last year was the collapse of Alau Dam in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, which led to the death of at least 159 people and loss of millions of naira.
Again, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) reported that 1.6 million hectares of farmlands were submerged leading to a loss of N1.6 trillion worth of crops.
Daily Trust notes that these losses are yearly being incurred, largely because we quickly forget the experiences of the previous year. For the government, the usual pattern has been that flooding will follow lamentations, sympathy visits and distribution of relief materials to the affected communities and life goes on until the next flood. For the citizens, they are becoming refugees and quickly rebuilding their destroyed buildings and reoccupying them without taking any precaution for the future.
It is encouraging this year’s prediction came with new innovations to address the situation.
According to the minister, the rather than just general predictions, forecasts are now tailored to specific communities, enhancing actionable communication and preparedness at the grassroots level.
“Recognising that early warning is only impactful when properly communicated, the flood prediction has been refined to provide not only seasonal and monthly forecasts, but location-specific and community-focused forecasts,” the minister said.
It is also encouraging that President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate release of N15 billion to prevent the looming flood disaster which he said can cause national calamity.
Speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Abuja during a workshop on strengthening coordinated risk, monitoring and coordination of flood, the president said his government could not afford the repeat of what happened last year where flood affected over five million people.
“They displaced 2.3 million Nigerians, destroyed more than 450,000 hectares of farmland, and forced 1.2 million children out of school.
“For decades, our response to floods and other climate-induced disasters has been reactive. Our preparation is either inadequate or we are caught unaware. We wait for the waters to rise, for the homes to vanish, and then we scramble for relief.’’
We just hope that the president would not only ensure the timely release of the funds but will monitor it is not diverted.
It is also encouraging that some states have started taking proactive measures aimed at preventing an recurrence of their past experiences, especially in terms of enlightening their communities likely to be affected to move away from flood paths. We suggest that in doing this, adequate arrangement is made to provide minimum comfort to the displaced people. But more importantly, efforts must be made to ensure permanent relocation of all persons living on flood paths.
Nigerians need to also imbibe the habit of watching over their environment. Our penchant of blocking and building on waterways must stop.
We also urge the relevant government agencies to ensure constant monitoring and collaboration with authorities of neighbouring countries in releasing water from their dams to avoid repeat of another disaster.
@DailyTrust
