Nigerian government warns FCT, 30 states against high-risk flooding

The Nigerian authorities warned on Thursday that about 1,249 communities in 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are at high-risk of flooding this yr, because the wet season when such flood disasters happen steadily intensifies in some elements of the nation.

The warning comes as many Nigerians are nonetheless recovering from the flood disasters that devastated quite a few states final yr.

Joseph Utsev, Minister of Water Assets and Sanitation, on Thursday in Abuja, warned about high-risk flooding throughout the 2025 flood outlook presentation by the Nigeria Hydrological Companies Company (NIHSA).

Mr Utsev mentioned that flooding is among the worst pure disasters in Nigeria, with local weather change exacerbating its prevalence.

In accordance with the NIHSA cited by the minister, a complete of two,187 communities in 293 LGAs fall inside the reasonable flood danger states as Abia, Benue, Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Jigawa are key states anticipated to be affected most by the flooding.

Mr Utsev added that the hydrological providers company additionally launched its community-based predicting initiative to furnish most people with location-specific data and community-focused forecasts about flooding, climate and others everywhere in the nation.

“1,249 communities in 176 native authorities areas LGAs throughout 30 states and the FCT fall inside high-risk flood zones this yr, whereas an extra 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs face reasonable flood dangers,” TheCable quoted the minister as saying.

“As a part of this yr’s Annual Flood Outlook (AFO), NIHSA adopted a brand new and efficient method to flood forecasting mechanism to make sure that important danger data is clearly understood and actionable for susceptible communities.

“Recognising that early warning is simply impactful when correctly communicated, the flood prediction has been refined to supply not solely seasonal and month-to-month forecasts, however location-specific and community-focused forecasts.”

The minister additionally introduced the rollout of a number of initiatives just like the nationwide flood insurance coverage programme (NFIP) — an insurance coverage challenge aimed toward defending susceptible households, farmlands, and livestock.

He mentioned that Kogi and Jigawa states are the pilot states for the flood insurance coverage programme.

The official added that one other initiative referred to as built-in local weather resilience innovation challenge (I-CRIP) meant to enhance meals safety, power manufacturing, and water assets use via climate-smart methods, and the Nigeria FLOOD challenge — for flood management and river administration are additionally among the key authorities’s efforts for efficient flood management.

Nigeria’s perennial flooding catastrophe

Nigeria has confronted devastating flooding incidents exacerbated by local weather change in the previous couple of years.

Lots of of individuals have died, companies crippled, and houses, farms, colleges, hospitals, amongst others, have been destroyed. The floods have worsened the lingering socio-economic disaster within the nation, the place residents are witnessing their worst price of dwelling disaster in a era.

Consultants have argued that Nigeria’s perennial flood catastrophe could be addressed by deploying water harvesting expertise, channeling extra waters to recharge the shrinking Lake Chad and dredging main water pathways nationwide.

Among the disastrous flooding incidents have been blamed on failure of the governments and the folks within the susceptible areas to heed to warnings or insufficient preparation for it.

In some circumstances, the governments at each the federal and state ranges did not show sufficient political will to implement insurance policies or present various choices to folks within the flood-prone areas.

In September 2024, residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, had been hit by a devastating flood, which submerged many houses following the alleged breakdown of Alau Dam that has been stuffed to capability for about one week.

READ ALSO: Tax waiver not sufficient Borno flood-affected enterprise homeowners inform Governor Zulum

Equally, in the identical yr, agrarian communities in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, and Adamawa, which produce main staples equivalent to rice, maise, wheat, onions, and cowpea, had been among the many flood-worst hit states, with a big impression on native meals safety.

In accordance with flood information on the Nationwide Emergency Administration Company (NEMA) dashboard, as of 14 October, over 180,000 farms had been affected by floods this yr. NEMA mentioned greater than 300 lives had been additionally misplaced and greater than 713,000 folks displaced.

Final yr, the federal authorities permitted N108 billion for the 36 states to deal with flooding.