Nigeria lost about N1.53 trillion ($1 billion) to flood last year, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Prof Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, has said.
The minister revealed this on Wednesday during the official submission of the draft framework and consolidated budget by the Anticipatory Action Task Force (AATF) to Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
A statement released by the spokesperson to the Vice President, Stanley Nwokocha, on Wednesday quoted the minister as saying that in 2024 alone, flood had displaced 1.2 million people and destroyed 1.3 million hectares of arable farmlands.
Prof Yilwatda said, “We are shifting from reaction to recovery. We are also shifting from losses to prevention. That is the main purpose of why we are here today.
“We looked at the evidence available. In 2004 alone, about 1.2 million people were displaced, and about 1.3 million hectares of arable farmlands were destroyed by the floods, and in terms of cost, it was over $1 billion in losses. If we can allocate just one percent of that money, we can save much more than what we lost.”
In his remarks, Mr Shettima said the federal government has now elevated flood prevention to a national security priority that would move disaster response from reactive to early, coordinated response.
The new framework, which includes scientific and traditional data-gathering methods, triggers for early action, and a consolidated budget for flood response, aims to build resilience in states and communities prone to seasonal floods.
Mr Shettima said, “Disasters are security issues. Over the years, we have only been reacting instead of practising proactive disaster management. By seizing this initiative, and believing in science, we have carried out all the due processes of finding a roadmap.”
Also, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, stressed the need to act swiftly and proactively, noting that “often, natural disasters are outside of our control, but reaction is ours.”
Mr Ribadu said, “And this is what matters the most — the ability for us to get ready for a situation that is not under our control. Despite all the resources one has, as long as one is not in a position to anticipate and be able to react, one is likely going to suffer the worst consequences of natural disasters.”
