Nigerian community leaders, local government areas in states including Anambra, Delta, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa states, have been warned of impending floods in the coming weeks by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, on Sunday during a media briefing in Abuja. The minister, while enumerating the government’s efforts in mitigating the disaster in the country which she described as overwhelming, urged state governments to begin evacuation of persons living along water channels and other areas obstructing the flow of water. According to her, despite concerted efforts to avert the consequences of the 2022 flooding season as forecast by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, many state governments did not prepare for the floods. So far, at least 603 people have been killed and 1.3 million persons displaced by floods from their communities, according to federal government, Experts are saying this is the worse flood disaster in Nigerian history.
According to minister about 82,053 houses had been totally decimated, 2,504,095 million persons affected, while 332, 327 hectares of land were completely damaged.
Putting out the figures, the minister said though Nigerians could express concerns over the devastating floods across the country, there should be no panic over threats to food security.
Other statistics indicated that the number of injuries is 2,407, while houses that were partially destroyed totals 121,318, and farmland partially decimated is 108,392.
She said: “Although flood has become an annual disaster with devastating consequences and the effect of climate change makes it difficult to prevent in Nigeria, it can be mitigated and managed;
“There was enough warning and information about the 2022 flood but states, local governments, and communities appear not to take heed; thus the meeting agreed to form a high-powered delegation to state governors to advocate for more commitment to strengthen state response mechanisms as stipulated in the National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.
“Stakeholders will work within their respective mandates to prevent deaths due to flood or other health-related diseases that are in the aftermath.
“We must initiate a bilateral discussion with authorities in Cameroon next month (November 2022) on the periodic opening of the Lagdo dam. The delegation to Cameroon is to be led by the PS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be requested to facilitate it;
“For a coordinated flood response protocol, the meeting agreed to implement the National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan; accordingly, the sectoral approach to flood management at the national and sub-national levels must be absolutely implemented.”
She emphasised that there was the need for state governments to invest in flood management and lead on community based flood early warning systems; hence the meeting called on state governments to take greater responsibility for flood preparedness and response.