A Flood of Grief

With about 450 out of the 774 local government areas of Nigeria devastated by unprecedented flooding and over 603 killed with diverse assets destroyed, the federal government and sub-nationals must avoid blame games and take needful actions, writes Louis Achi

“P

eople shouldn’t be living in certain places – on earthquake faults or on flood plains. But they do, and there are consequences,” said Vaclav Smil, a Czech-Canadian scientist, policy analyst and Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. 

Smil’s insight may have prompted the Lagos State Government to alert residents of the state, 18 days ago, especially those residing on the flood plains of Ogun River, to relocate upland.

In a move comparable to shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted, the state government directed property owners and developers to desist from embarking on any form of physical development without adherence to processes and procedures outlined by it to provide habitable structures across the state.

The State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, had listed areas likely to be affected by flooding to include: Ketu, Alapere, Agric, Owode Onirin, Ajegunle, Alagbole, Kara, Isheri Olowora, Araromi Otun Orisha community, Agiliti, Maidan, Mile 12, Odo Ogun, Owode Elede, Agboyi 1, Agboyi II, Agboyi III.

Beyond Lagos State, floods have hit many Nigerian states, wreaking extreme devastation in the last two months with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announcing that about 2.5 million persons have so far been affected and over 603 persons killed by the flooding caused by torrential rainfall of late.

Houses and farmlands were submerged in Bayelsa, Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Imo, Abia states, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to NEMA’s Director-General, Mr. Mustapha Ahmed, the 2022 floods hit 450 of the 774 local government areas of the country and the FCT. His words: “The 2022 Annual Flood Outlook forecasted that 233 local government areas in 32 states and the FCT would be at sizeable risk. It stated also that 212 council areas in 35 states and the FCT were within moderately probable flood risks.

“Already, NEMA is inundated with reports of flood in more than 450 council areas in 36 states and the FCT and it is still counting, causing loss of lives, livelihoods, properties and infrastructures,” he added.

Ahmed spoke in Awka, Anambra State, last week, while addressing NEMA officials who brought relief materials to the victims.

More than one-third of the land mass in Anambra State has been devastated by flood which has also taken 17 lives as at mid last week. The floods have also caused the collapse of infrastructure, public and private buildings and means of livelihoods of residents, the deputy governor, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim, revealed, while addressing NEMA officials in Awka. Ibezim said the ‘devastating flood’ hit seven of the 21 local government areas of the state.

In Delta State, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa called on the federal government, corporate organisations and individuals to come to the aid of hapless victims of flood in the state. He made the call on Wednesday when he visited flood victims at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps at Utagba-Ogbe Technical College, Kwale in Ndokwa West; Alaka Grammar School, Ozoro in Isoko North; St. Michael’s College, Oleh and Isoko Central School, Oleh both in Isoko South Local Government Areas of the state.

On his part, a distraught Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, appealed to the federal government for assistance, saying the floods in the state were overwhelming and beyond what his government alone could handle.

 The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has also raised concerns about the devastating flood, saying it would have “deleterious” consequences on food production, as well as orchestrate higher food prices at a time the country is contending with rising food insecurity due to banditry and insurgency.

Reacting to the disaster in a post on his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday, Obi said that the devastating enormity of the flooding and the damages it has wreaked is mind-boggling.  “I sympathise with those directly affected by the loss of lives and properties. At a time our country contends with rising food insecurity due to banditry and insurgency, the ravaging floods will have deleterious consequences on food production, as well as orchestrate higher food prices. I call on FGN and NEMA to expeditiously assist those affected by this natural disaster.”

But in a rather curious blame game, the federal government faulted state governments for not heeding the early warnings issued by its agencies. Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services (NIHSA), Clement Nze, blamed state governments for disregarding “adequate and timely warnings” and weather advisories issued by the various federal government agencies.

He said: “If our predictions were heeded by relevant sub-nationals, we will not have been where we are today. But I believe that following this year’s flood disaster across the land, the consciousness of relevant actors especially sub-nationals will be awakened to do the needful once they receive all these advisories.”

More, the Presidency also discredited trending theories that the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun was responsible for the large-scale flooding in Nigeria. It also described as inappropriate, the public attention on the federal government when in fact, the states and local governments received the chunk of ecological funds set aside for disaster management.

However, in an apparent rejection of the federal government’s position, Governor Okowa of Delta State and vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on the federal authority to build new dams and desilt major rivers to check flooding, especially when neighbouring countries opened their dams. More specifically, Okowa urged the federal government to make efforts at desilting River Niger and River Benue to deepen the depths of the rivers to accommodate high volume of floodwater.

In a statement, the presidency enjoined state governors to rise to the responsibilities of their office by responding to the needs of their citizens in the face of growing floods and other ecologically-related disasters. According to the federal government, roughly N1trillion, representing 2.2 per cent of the total budget for 2018, 2019 and 2023 was budgeted for ecological and disaster management. In 2018, 2.2 per cent of the estimated of N9.120 trillion budget, amounting to N198 billion was set aside for the Ecological Fund; in 2019, the 2.2 per cent amount of the budget of N132 billion was allocated for the Fund, while in 2023, 2.2 per cent of the N21 trillion budget indicated N462 billion allocation for Ecological Fund. However, these claims remain unverified.

The emerging consensus is that beyond climate change which is becoming very impactful globally and beginning to affect a lot of issues, the sea levels are rising and so also are water volumes of different river flood plains. Another issue that the federal government is apparently trying to gloss over is the dam in Cameroon which always causes major overflows in Nigeria’s river systems.

So beyond the customary blame games, proactive, knowledge-based, transparent, accountable interventions are imperative. This should also include building holding dams, regular desilting of the nation’s river systems so that they could hold larger volumes of water, especially during rainy seasons