Nigeria has faced series of flood disasters in the past few years and after each occurrence, many lives are lost even as properties worth billions of Naira are destroyed.
Last year, flood disasters affected two hundred and seventeen Local Government Areas across thirty-four states of the federation, according to data from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The data further revealed that the flooding impacted a total of one million three hundred and seventy-three thousand six hundred and ninety-nine people, with seven hundred and forty thousand, seven hundred and thirty-four people displaced and three hundred and twenty-one fatalities recorded.
It further revealed that two thousand, eight hundred and fifty-four individuals sustained varying degrees of injuries while thousands of hectares of cultivated farmland were either submerged or completely destroyed.
In 2023, about thirty-three thousand, nine hundred and eighty-three people were affected by flooding in different parts of the country while seven thousand, three hundred and fifty-three persons were displaced, seventy-five injured, and five people lost their lives to the natural disaster.
Again, one thousand, six hundred and seventy-nine houses were damaged and eight hundred and sixty-six hectares of farmlands were totally destroyed.
Nigeria’s 2022 flooding killed six hundred and sixty-two people and injured three thousand one hundred and seventy-four others while two million, four hundred and thirty thousand, four hundred and forty-five individuals were displaced.
For that of 2012, a total of three hundred and sixty-three people were killed, about two point three million people displaced and five hundred and ninety thousand, four hundred and seventy-six houses damaged, according to NEMA.
Recently, the Federal Government warned that one thousand two hundred and forty-nine communities across one hundred and seventy-six Local Government Areas in thirty-three states and the FCT are at high risk of flooding this year.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, gave the warning in Abuja during the official presentation of the 2025 Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.
The agency’s forecast shows that an additional two thousand, one hundred and eighty-seven communities in two hundred and ninety-three Council Areas across thirty-one states and the FCT are expected to experience moderate flood risk.
It is not enough for the government to issue warnings about impending flood disasters every year without taking concrete actions to forestall future occurrence.
With the aid of modern technologies, floodwaters could be harvested for agricultural purposes, power generation and some other uses.
The dredging of major waterways across the country, will create more room for the accommodation excess water in the rivers, lakes and others during rainy seasons.
The government should also ensure that nobody builds on waterways across the country for whatever reason. Adequate arrangements should be made early enough to move people living in flood-prone areas to safer grounds before the floodwaters arrive.
The people, on their part, should complement the government’s efforts by clearing drainage channels and smaller waterways in their various communities to allow for a free flow of water especially now that the rains have returned.
WRITTEN BY OBINNA ODOGWU
