The Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMET, and other government bodies charged with early warnings for the annual floods, have alerted Nigerians to prepare early for this year’s flooding which could be worse than that of last year.

Nigeria featured among the world’s worst scenes of disasters during the floods of September/October 2022. Entire towns were submerged in states like Kogi, Anambra, Delta and Rivers. In one of the worst-hit states, Bayelsa, floods dug up dead bodies from graves, floated them through the streets and dumped them in the creeks onward to the ocean.

In terms of numbers, the 2022 floods killed over 600 people, displaced about two million and injured about 2,400. Also, 82,035 houses went down, while 332,327 hectares of farmlands were submerged or washed off. The flood disaster and former President Muhammadu Buhari’s ill-advised “currency redesign” policy put Nigerians through a level of suffering never witnessed in this country in peace time.

Beyond the inchoate humanitarian responses, such as procuring palliatives for displaced persons and in some states, helping rebuild the lost homes, what have we done to contain this year’s floods, knowing they are bound to come?

Obviously, the greatest pre-emptive measure that can be taken is massive sensitisation for the people to prepare for the inevitable. While little can be done about protecting crops in the farmlands until the major flood pathways are permanently fixed, we can save lives by getting out of the way of floods before they arrive.

By now, governments of states perennially ravaged by flooding ought to have established camps where displaced people can be temporarily relocated, with adequate arrangements made to cater for them. It is also the duty of government to work with the people to clear the drains and evacuate the debris.

The sanitary inspection system which in the past helped keep our communities clean and held epidemics at bay, must be revived. Government must partner with community leadership to mobilise the people and sanitise the drains. Our lackadaisical attitude to sanitation and indiscriminate dumping of refuse are mainly responsible for urban flooding. It is largely preventable if governments are alive to their responsibilities.

The Bola Tinubu regime must actualise the much-touted flood prevention master-plan that was only revisited by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources last year, and later abandoned. The beds of our major rivers – the Niger, and Benue – should be regularly dredged to allow them accommodate more floodwater coming from within and outside the country.

Also, flood-prone communities lying too close to the banks of these rivers should be given special attention by the Federal Government in partnership with the concerned states.

To some Nigerians, flooding is an existential, annual threat. We cannot abandon them to their fate.

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