The 2022 floods in Nigeria left a trail of devastation across the country, reminiscent of biblical proportions. Till date, many Nigerians and farmers in the affected arrears haven’t recovered fully, as farms, houses, roads and precious lives lost to the natural disaster haven’t been restored. There are fears that the worst is about to happen any time from now.
Early this week, the Federal Government issued a flood alert following the opening of the Ladjo Dam by Cameroonian authorities, a development that has unsettled many Nigerians, given the devastation wrought by the flooding of 2023 nationwide. It has, therefore, advised states along the Benue River to brace up for the impact and limit it in advance.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, while issuing the warning at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, advised state governors to immediately evacuate citizens from flood-prone communities to safer places to forestall loss of lives and property.
According to the minister, the opening of the Lagdo Dam would result in floods in all the states on the path of the River Benue within seven days (that is, latest tomorrow, Sunday).
States like Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Taraba and Adamawa states are expected to be directly affected, while the impact would reverberate in Plateau, Delta, Gombe, Bauchi and Cross River states.
Before now, NEMA said it had directed the flood-prone states to evacuate people from vulnerable communities, even before Lagdo Dam was opened.
Saturday Sun checks revealed that no concrete efforts are in place by those on the frontline to vacate their homes to safer places. This is worrisome considering that there is no permanent solution put in place by governments against such an emergency. Most times, a fire brigade approach of fleeing their homes moments before disaster strikes has been preferred by communities living around affected river banks.
Already, flooding has been reported in some of the frontline states. Rice farms in Sheka in Nasarawa State have reported flooding, as communities in Gassol, Ibbi and Lau local governments have heeded the call to relocate to safer places.
Following the alarm issued by the Federal Government, the Benue State Government has put its citizens on high alert through the Benue State Emergency Management Agency. Benue’s SEMA has urged residents of the state, particularly those residing in flood-prone areas to vacate their homes.
The Acting Executive Secretary, Sir James Anodoakaa Iorpuu, in a statement issued on Monday by Terfa Anar, Principal Media Aide to BSEMA ES, said the development came on the heels of the release of water from the Lagdo-Dam of Cameroon over River Benue.
Iorpuu also urged the residents to move to higher grounds for safety, informing them that public schools had been designated as their temporary homes.
About 22 local government areas in the state live around the banks of River Benue, making it one of the most threatened states by the impending flooding. To this end, the agency has embarked on a sensitisation and awareness campaign on the need for people in at least 22 local government areas living around the banks of River Benue to be on alert.
Some flood-prone areas within Makurdi, according to the BSEMA boss, included Achusa, Idye, Wurukum market, Genabe, Industrial Layout, Demekpe, Wadata Market, Rice Mill, Inongun, Agbohough, Judges Quarter.
Though the Benue State Emergency Management Agency has warned residents at risk to move to high grounds, Saturday Sun checks revealed that no concrete effort has been made by the state government to provide a lifeline to those threatened by the looming.
However, communities like Gyado Villa, Kutcha-Utebe and Wurukum, in the state, which face higher risks, have started relocating. Obviously, they didn’t want to suffer a similar fate as last year when many of them lost valuable property. Others in Wafata, Angwa-Wurukum, among other flood-prone areas in the state, are still waiting for the state government to provide them a safe haven.
Some farmers are taking their time as they watch the unfolding drama from a close range, fearing that abandoning their farms now was uncalled for when the threat was not close-by yet.
In neighbouring Kogi State, the flood-prone Lokoja residents are not living anything to chance, as they have started evacuation.
Like Benue State, Cross River State shares borders with Cameroon. A coastal state, the state government, said Angela Ogeyi Odey, the Director-General of the State Emergency Management Agency, has identified 11 vulnerable local government areas in the riverine areas in the state.
These local government areas include the state capital, Calabar, Ikom, Ogoja, Yakurr, Yala, Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Etung, Odukpani, Obubra and Biase.
“We’re getting the relief materials ready, flying boats to evacuate people. We’ve been talking to town criers to spread the news. After evacuation, we’re making plans to keep them. We have hostels, schools and other places to keep them till October,” she said midweek.
Jos North in Plateau State, alongside Shendam, Langtang North and Langtang South, are areas to watch out for as the flood draws closer. It has become a yearly ritual for these people.
A cause for alarm
In 2022, a different kind of flooding occurred in September in Nigeria, claiming hundreds of lives, with over 1.3 million people displaced and over 600 killed. Houses were submerged –90,000 homes were partially or completely destroyed –and uncountable farms and means of livelihood destroyed, in the worst flooding in a decade, affecting nearly all of Nigeria’s states.
Sights of survivors paddling in canoes across hitherto main roads became a familiar sight in the media and social media. It was regarded as one of the worst floods in West Africa, caused by heavier than normal rainfall, coupled with release of water from a Cameroonian dam.
Though governments at all levels promised to help victims, that magnanimity wasn’t widespread as expected.
In its report published in October 22, 2022, UNICEF said more than 2.8 million people were impacted by the flooding of last year.
António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, lamented that the flooding has worsened the cost of living across the country, extending his deepest condolences to the Government of Nigeria and to the affected families.
UNICEF decried that 60 percent of those in need were children, who are at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition.
The floods, which affected 34 out of the 36 states in the country, led to an epidemic. In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe in the northeast, over 7,500 cases of cholera and over 300 associated deaths were reported by mid October.
UNICEF warned that children and adolescents in flood-affected areas were in an extremely vulnerable situation. Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, added:
“They are particularly at risk of waterborne diseases and emotional and psychological distress.”
Each time there is flooding in Nigeria, it leads to far-reaching consequences on the food chain. Nigeria, Saturday Sun, gathered, relies on 10 billion dollars worth of food importation to meet its food and agricultural production shortfalls vis: mostly wheat, rice, poultry and fish. This is surprising considering that agriculture ranks next to oil in terms of national revenue.
Flooding makes the matter worse, because of its catastrophic consequences: farmlands, crops, settlements, livestock, seedling stores and, above all, the environment. This results in dwindling harvests and shortage of supplies, leading to scarcity and hunger.
Also, fishing is affected by flooding, as fish stock is washed away. Smallholder farmers, who constitute up to almost 90 percent of Nigerian farmers, are usually the worst affected by flood disasters. They not only lose their primary source of income but also lack the resources to purchase food in the market.
In infrastructure, flooding results in massive damage to infrastructure, like the collapse of bridges and roads in Nigeria, as witnessed in Bayelsa State last year.
No doubt, the knock-on effects are multiple to transportation, national security, agriculture with a decline in agricultural productivity. Everybody in Nigeria is worried.
The Sun