The Director General of Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA), John Ayoade Shamonde said at the public presentation of the flood outlook that people who live in areas regarded as high risk should be on alert and ready to relocate when advised to do so. Shamonde observed that the flood outlook for this year was classified into high, moderate and low flood risk areas in some local governments. He noted that the flood for this year would not be heavier than that of 2012, but added that coastal areas that may experience flooding include Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo and Lagos states, while parts of Sokoto, Benue, Bauchi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Yobe States were classified as ‘inland high flood risks’ areas.
The outlook built on the 2014 Nigerian Meteorological Agency’s seasonal rainfall prediction and historical records of hydrological stations across the country. In 2012, 27 states in the country were ravaged by flood, leading to 400 deaths; over 2 million people were displaced, with associated losses, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), totalling some N2.9 trillion. The federal government intervened by setting up the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation headed by business mogul Aliko Dangote. The panel realised over N11 billion, but not much has been done out of it because many of the victims of the flood have gone back to their former abodes predicted to experience the same fate this year. If the committee had been active in the rehabilitation phase, many of the fund’s potential beneficiaries would not have contemplated returning to the flood-prone areas. Two years after the devastating flood, there ought to have been something substantial done to alleviate the suffering those affected must be going through. With this issue unresolved, the possibility of another devastating flood can only add to the problem. The purpose for which the Dangote committee was set up has therefore not been achieved. But it may yet redeem itself by ramping up efforts to get relief through to the targeted beneficiaries as promptly as possible.
With this year’s flood outlook, relief agencies, particularly NEMA, have a head-start to be proactive in minimising its deleterious impact. Adequate measures and contingency plans should be put in place and be ready for quick activation. Such prevarication in the past worsened the fallouts of the 2012 flood. Already, the heavy downpour leading to floods in some parts of the country has caused fears of what likely may happen when the rains peak. In addressing the situation, it is important to have a national master plan that will indicate where people must not build on to avoid blocking waterways. All tiers of government as well as town planning authorities should have the capacity to enforce compliance with provisions of the master plan. Coastal communities must be made to relocate to higher ground for their own safety and, where applicable, provided with alternative settlements in order not to be caught up in the event of another flood. This rule should have been applied in the aftermath of the last flood. Enlightenment campaigns aimed at sensitizing the public on safety measures are important. The cooperation of community leaders and political representatives and other stakeholders is equally required for any meaningful impact to be made in this regard. Such cooperation would also avoid repeating the incident in Adamawa State in which the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in 2012 by Cameroon led to a deluge that displaced over a hundred communities across several local governments. This perennial problem, which often brings misery to these communities, can be addressed if Nigerian and Cameroonian authorities jointly cooperate to speed up plans to construct buffer dams along their common borders.