Concerns that the end of ‘August break’, marking a temporary cessation of rain in most parts of the country next month would trigger the annual September peak rainfall, underscores the repeated warnings being issued to Nigerians to brace up for massive floods that could spell disaster.
Considering the massive damage caused by floods in the past few years across the country, there is a need to guard against its impacts on lives and properties. Wisdom demands that both the government and people should heed the warnings and adjust accordingly to be on the safe side.
However, governments at all levels have a major role to play in curtailing flood disaster. The warning being issued by the authorities is one part; but the most important role is to provide alternative places of abode for the millions that will be affected, given that most of them are indigent and ordinarily unable to relocate properly from the danger zone. Government must continually strategise in approving building structures, planning, urban renewal and ensuring stricter adherence to and enforcement of extant regulations in order to holistically address the problem in the long run.
As a matter of fact, every state in the country has a responsibility to take proactive measures to avert disaster. According to the 2023 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) released earlier in the year by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), the earliest cessation date for rainfall in the southern part of the country is usually December 28th, while September 26th is the earliest cessation date for rainfall in the northern part of the country.
In effect, the country still has many days of rainfall in the course of the wet season. More floods are expected in the months of September and October when the rivers swell and overflow their banks.
The release of excess water from the dams in neighbouring countries upstream rivers Niger and Benue during September rainfall peak usually triggers more negative impacts in Nigeria, which is located downstream other countries in the Niger/Benue Basin. The floods are often aggravated by the trans-boundary inflow of rivers Niger and Benue from outside the country before they empty into the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria.
It is on that strength that the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) usually issues a red alert, advising residents of flood-prone areas to begin relocation because heavy rains will precipitate the flooding leading to destruction of properties and likely loss of lives. The careless attitude of some people is their undoing.
The Director-General of NIHSA, Mr. Clement Nze, warns that some 275 local government areas of the 774 would be moderately hit by the flood while 102 councils will be worse-hit. Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Edo and Kogi are on top of the list of states to witness major flooding. The others are Ogun, Ekiti, Kwara, Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara states.
Also, all the local government areas in Lagos, except Epe and many parts of Ogun State, will be badly affected, the agency added. The onus is on the governors of the states to begin immediate evacuation of residents in areas to be affected to the shelters provided for this purpose. It is senseless to wait until people are swallowed by raging floods before they seek evacuation. The time to do it is now.
It is not surprising that victims of last year’s flood disaster in Jigawa State have accused members of the state’s Flood Resettlement Committee of negligence in providing them with adequate shelter, food and water, as promised, despite raking in N1.7 billion during the launch of flood appeal fund meant to alleviate their plight. Spokesperson for the victims, Abdul Usman Karnaya, in Dutse, lamented that they only heard about disbursement of the funds from the radio without receiving anything.
“We only heard from Freedom Radio Station that the committee is disbursing money ranging from N1 million to N3 million with some roofing sheets and cement to a few affected communities with far less damages than ours. We lost our houses, foodstuffs, livestock among others during the flood, which ravaged Karnaya settlement at the outskirts of Metropolitan Dutse.
“We have waited for succour from the committee to no avail, from the inception of the flood late last year, up to this moment but have been left without shelter as we are scattered to various places in search of food and left in fear of this year’s rainy season.”
According to him, they have severally informed both the Flood Resettlement Committee and the State’s Relief Management Agency of their plight and demanded for assistance during their visitations, but to no avail.
Karnaya said apart from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the late Emir of Dutse, His Royal Highness (HRH), Alhaji Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi and Gerawa Global Construction Firm, among others who assisted them with large consignment of foodstuffs, no other person had come to their aid, in terms of provision of food, shelter, clothes, and water, including Jigawa State Government.
He noted that UNICEF erected emergency VIP toilets, sank boreholes in Karnaya Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP’s) camp, and provided medication, while other good Samaritans assisted them with food stuffs, clothes among others. It would be recalled that Karnaya town was the first community settlement that was last year submerged by flood among the 16 local councils in Jigawa State. Reports indicated that no fewer than 47,450 people were displaced, while 98 lives were lost to the flood last year.
The indiscriminate construction of houses on flood plains had been blamed for the heavy flooding experienced in some parts of Abuja recently. Some lives and properties had been lost at the Sunday Adewusi Estate in the Dei Dei area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) because the estate was built on a flood plain. The estate is owned by the police. What is required before now across the country is proper drainage and demolition of structures on drainage channels.
Unfortunately, little or nothing is done every other year by the various state authorities to put in place the needed flood control infrastructure, which explains why the problem is recurrent. It is important for state and local governments to heed the advice of the weather authorities; while stakeholders, multinational companies and public-spirited individuals and philanthropists should join hands to save the country from the consequences of the yearly floods.
As part of a long-term solution, residents should refrain from indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drainage channels and other unauthorised places, the authorities should establish effective refuse collection machinery as that is the only way to curb indiscriminate refuse disposal. On the whole, there should be continued civic education on the consequences of complacency in the threats posed by flooding.
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