Floods occasioned by torrential rainfalls have claimed over 500 lives and displaced close to three million people across Nigeria within the last five years, investigations by 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE, have shown.
The flood disasters occurred despite early releases of Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and timely and reliable weather predictions by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).
Niger, Lagos, Edo, Imo, Abia, Jigawa, Adamawa, Delta, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Oyo, Enugu, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Bauchi and the Federal Capital Territory are designated to be flood prone states in the country.
However, NIHSA flood outlook puts the number of highly probable states at 27. They include: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara.
Annual disaster reports by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the government organ responsible for coordination, disaster risk reduction and search and rescue in the event of an emergency, disclosed that approximately 150,000 houses were destroyed between 2016 and 2020.
Although NEMA’s didn’t give the year-by-year breakdown for the period under review, media reports of the yearly displacement monitored put the figure at 1, 241, 269.
NIHSA predicted flash floods in Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna, Benue and Adamawa states in 2016, urging state governments to put in place artificial reservoirs to mitigate flood flow.
It also warned of the possibility of overflowing of Rivers Niger, Benue, Sokoto-Rima, Anambra-Imo, among others, and their tributaries.
The prediction, however, did little to prevent the deaths of 38 people and the displacement of over 92,000 others.
Statistics also showed that although the casualty figure was lower in 2017; with 10 deaths, floods nonetheless displaced more than 100,000 in Benue alone, even as they wreaked havoc across four other states.
Reports indicated that the situation was direr in 2018 with 199 deaths and over 100,000 houses destroyed as floods ravaged 12 states. The floods also displaced 722, 741 people while it lasted. Agency officials said days of torrential downpour forced the two major rivers – Niger and Benue – to burst their banks, thereby submerging communities and farms.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that 126 lost their lives, while 130,934 were displaced as floods affected 30 states; destroying 29,356 houses in 2019.
In May, 2020, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said heavy rainfall, river floods and flash floods affected 192,594 people across 22 states in the country, with 155 deaths recorded.
However, NEMA put the casualty figure at 68 deaths, with 129,000 others affected by flood disasters nationwide. This came even when the 2020 AFO predicted flooding in about 102 local government areas across 28 states.
Again, in May, 2021, authorities issued an alert to 28 out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); warning of severe flooding this year.
The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, at the public presentation of Nigeria’s 2021 AFO in Abuja, said the latest flood projections showed varying severity across parts of the country.
Experts said despite the yearly warnings by the authorities, the disasters would continue to occur with consequent deaths and destruction unless there were attitudinal changes by Nigerians in adhering to instructions on how to mitigate occurrences.
A disaster expert, Salihu Jibrin, said although flooding was a natural occurrence, human activities exacerbated it.
Jibrin explained that, “Poor or non-existent drainage systems, poor waste management systems and unregulated urbanisation exacerbate the situation.
“Drainage blockages linked to poor sanitation practices are common in highly populated urban areas. Roadside dumping, canal dumping and dumping in rains are commonly practiced among a large proportion of the population. These cause blockages and result in flooding during the rainy season.”
Jibrin also blamed lack of integration and coordination among government institutions involved in disaster management, even as he said there was no concrete legal framework or flood management policy to address the situation.
He, therefore, called for an improved drainage system to allow water access during the rainy season as “this will also enhance easy flood control.”
He also called for the construction of dikes and levees, as well as canals and other structures built to control river flooding; including water surges.
He equally advocated for effective urban planning and implementation of existing legislations to ensure effective monitoring of urbanisation policies.
