At least 603 people have died as a result of floods in Nigeria, and all but three of the country’s 36 states have been affected. This is according to the Nigerian humanitarian affairs ministry.
The federal government has also announced that rising waters have displaced more than 1.3 million people and affected at least 840,000 acres of land.
Flooding has also raised concerns about food scarcity in the country.
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Nigeria, which experiences heavy tropical rains from May to September, is prone to seasonal flash floods, but rarely on this scale.
More extreme rainfall patterns are a consequence of climate change, as warmer temperatures cause more evaporation, making both droughts and floods more common.
Countries around the world have experienced both this year. The droughts that parched North America, Europe and China this summer were made 20 times more likely because of climate change, according to a recent study by World Weather Attribution, an international collaboration among scientists.
In response to a recent report circulating that the current flood in Nigeria is the result of the release of the Lagdo Cameroon dam,
Ogunlade Olamide Martins, CAPPA Programme Manager, Climate Change & Extractive Governance said on today’s edition of This Morning with Yori Folarin that it is more than just the dam.
He explained that floods are classified into three types. “There is fluvia flooding, which is caused by an excess release of water body overflowing, and there are boundaries.” Then there’s coastal flooding, like the one we’re currently experiencing in Cameroon, and there’s supposed to be a reservoir in Nigeria that can accommodate excess water, and then there’s Pluvier flooding.
“This Pluvia flooding is essentially traceable to when we have heavy or excessive rainfall.”
According to him, what is happening in Nigeria is a combination of all three types of flooding.
The CAPPA Program Manager went on to say that the country’s situation is beyond the government’s control.
“We can hold the government accountable for failing to manage the country’s current rapid urbanisation.
“However, there are some cases of flooding that go beyond institutional responses. This has to do with people taking on responsibility in order to limit some of these excesses.
“About 55% of Nigerians are currently residing in the urban centers. And then what you see presently in cities like Lagos and Abuja is that drainages are now being turned to dumping sites, so it is a combination of many failures.
With just a few months left to the end of the Buhari Administration, the federal government is out again to talk about its successes and showcase its achievements.
The inaugural series of the presentation of the Buhari Administration’s scorecard began with the successes achieved in the area of critical infrastructure and development.
The Minister of Works and Housing who began his presentation with an explanation of government’s response to the flood situation currently ravaging many parts of the country said the government is already taking stock of the level of damage caused and awaits a final report from its field controllers to determine the next line of action.
Mr Olamide stated that people who live in rural areas contribute significantly to the waste problem that exists in urban areas.
“Our drainages have been turned into dumping grounds; people must be aware that they are also contributing to flooding.”
“The government is not blameless, but our habit is also crucial.”
“We also see a lot of reports from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, issuing warnings and cautions, but something is still missing, and a lot of coordination is still needed.”
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