Threat of impending floods

The Director-General  of the  Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA), Moses Beckley, recently predicted an overflow of the Niger-Benue River Basins and other sub-basins, in the ongoing rainy season, stating that  flooding is likely to affect states  in the surrounding the basins. He made the prediction at the official presentation of the Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) […]

The Director-General  of the  Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA), Moses Beckley, recently predicted an overflow of the Niger-Benue River Basins and other sub-basins, in the ongoing rainy season, stating that  flooding is likely to affect states  in the surrounding the basins. He made the prediction at the official presentation of the Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) in Abuja on July 25, 2016.

The states at the risk of flooding, according to NHSA, include Niger, Benue, Sokoto, Anambra, Imo, Kogi, Cross River, Yobe, Ogun, Kebbi and Osun. Others are Zamfara, Katsina, Kwara, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Plateau and Nasarawa. The rest are Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, Delta, Lagos, Ondo, Akwa-Ibom, Ebonyi, Abia, Jigawa and Kano. The agency added that Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Bayelsa, Delta and Ondo particularly might experience coastal flooding due to rise in sea level and tidal surge. Already, states like Kano, Kebbi, Cross River, and Jigawa states have suffered from flooding this year. 

On its part, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, announced last week that there would be massive flooding and erosion in some parts of the country, especially the coastal zone and river catchment areas later in the year. The Director-General of NIMET, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, who made the disclosure said, “episodic flooding and erosion in the coastal zone and river catchment areas may be inevitable and as such, adequate publicity is highly recommended in order to reduce damages and risk of loss of life and property, especially in areas prone to river bank overflows.”

These alerts of impending flood bring to mind the devastating floods that occurred in 2012, which caught the nation napping. Many rural communities, towns and cities were violated by the massive overflow of rain water. Experts claimed the 2012 flood was the worst in 40 years and affected some seven million persons across 30 out of the 36 states of Nigeria. The rough naira estimate of the damage was put at N2.6 trillion. 

From every indication, many state governments went to sleep after the 2012 crisis, as very few of the 36 states took practical steps to put in place measures to contain floods. Some of the measures that could have helped include the following: the construction of water reservoirs to control water flow (such water could be used to provide treated water for human consumption); concrete reinforcement at critical river banks; increasing or expanding drainages; increasing and strategic placement of drain holes on roads; tree planting in many parts of flood prone areas; and construction of ponds and huge dams close to rivers that usually overflow.  Water from such dams or ponds could be used for farming and fishing. There is no evidence that these preventive measures have taken place in Nigeria since the 2012 emergency.

We call on state governments to, as a matter of urgency, construct reservoirs in selected areas wherein water could be channeled and deployed for other purposes, like irrigation, fish farming and so on. Also, measures should be put in place to relocate Nigerians who live in terrains that are prone to flood. It is the responsibility of government to protect those it leads from disaster.

 It will be inhuman if the governments of states which NIMET says would be affected by flood wait for disaster to occur before they take steps to evacuate the people. Also, it is feared that farms could be washed away, leading to food crisis. We advise governments to source food items and store in safe places so that the impending food crisis may be averted.

We further call for a long-term plan to avert floods. The laws forbidding the construction of houses on waterways should be enforced across the country. Government should frustrate the rise of slums in cities by ensuring that urban centers are properly planned and infrastructure provided to prevent  the kind of self-help that give birth to slums.