2 months ago
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It is extremely important that we start this very moment to think about what is happening in our country as regards weather and climate. This is no more a task to be left to experts because the signs are there for all to see. To be specific, flooding disasters now visit us in quick succession, back to back. No prayer or wishful thinking can push this sad reality away. And, the worst part of the matter is that what we see today is just a sign of the worst things to come. Climate change is real, and the experts agree that it can only get worse. Therefore, we must begin right now to plan for tomorrow.
In 2012, the nationwide flooding disaster which began in early July 2012 killed 363 people and displaced over 2.1 million people as of November 5, 2012. The National Emergency Management Agency said it cut through 30 states, affecting an estimated total of seven million Nigerians, with estimated damages and loss of properties and farmlands to the tune of N2.6 trillion. They were termed the worst ever seen in 40 years. Ten years later, it was back. This time, in 2022, the national deluge displaced over 1.4 million people, killed over 603 and injured more than 2,400 citizens. In its wake, more than 82,000 houses were left in ruins while 332,327 hectares of land were swamped.
It is therefore instructive to note that it did not wait for 10 years to give us yet another wet kiss of death. As you read this piece, Nigeria is struggling to catch its breath as the rains are hitting hard in many parts of the country, causing floods that have resulted in hundreds of lives lost and substantial damage to homes and farmlands. At the last count, more than half a million have been affected. The International Rescue Committee, while announcing its preparation for an emergency response to provide immediate relief to the most affected households across the northeastern states of Adamawa and Borno, has reeled out some troubling statistics, which tallies with the NEMA data.
As heavy rains continue, across the country, over 515,794 people have been impacted by the devastating floods, with 205,338 displaced, 170 lives lost, and significant damage to 76,667 houses and over 106,089 hectares of farmlands. Twenty-eight states so far have been affected. Babatunde Ojei, IRC Nigeria Country Director, said: “The frequent occurrence of this flooding is unprecedented; it now happens annually, and the impact on communities is severe. We are deeply concerned about the long-term impact of this disaster on vulnerable populations, particularly in high-risk areas where continued rains are expected to worsen the situation.”
Alas, the scary part is that we are still in September. It could be recalled that the 2022 flooding was caused by heavy rainfall, induced by climate change, as well as the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in neighbouring Cameroon, which began on September 13, 2022. Hence, if the body count is already this bad, what would happen when Cameroon opens its floodgates?
If there was a release of water from the dam, the state at risk of being affected the most is Adamawa because it serves as the entry point of River Benue. Other states at risk are Taraba, Benue, some parts of Nasarawa, Benue State, and Kogi State, where the dam meets with the water coming down from River Niger and flows downwards to some parts of Anambra, Enugu, Edo, and Delta states. In other words, the entire nation should brace for impact.
Yet, my worry is not about today. We are here already. We must wake up and smell the coffee. The real calamity is the one ahead. As the impact of climate change gets more intense, even our rickety infrastructure will no longer be enough to pull us through, because the disasters will be coming more frequently than ever. If in doubt, check the news today: Many bridges, especially in the North are collapsing under the weight of raging floods.
Secondly, our palliatives and relief materials will no longer go round, as more people become climate refugees. Indeed, there is fire on the mountain!
One is therefore anxious when considering the probability that this present government may not actually grasp the urgency of the moment. Granted, it says the right things in well-crafted press statements – like the one Ajuri Ngelale just released the other day. But, the question is whether it has the political will to do the needful. It takes just words to declare the willingness to be “climate-resilient” and “environmentally friendly” but it would take much more to turn the ship of state in the green, sustainable direction. I wish President Bola Tinubu would rise to the occasion.
Perhaps, we have to start from the beginning. The truth is that the perennial flooding experienced in Nigeria following the release of water from the Lagdo dam could have been curtailed some 42 years ago had the Nigerian government been proactive. In the year 1980, Nigeria and Cameroon reached an agreement to embark on a parallel dam development project. While the Cameroonian government built a dam on its side of the border, the Nigerian government was supposed to embark on a similar venture along the course of the river, ostensibly to contain the gushing water released upstream from Lagdo town and curb flooding and attendant destruction of property and loss of lives.
In 1981, a shock-absorber dam was designed. Tagged the “Dasin Hausa Dam,” the multi-purpose facility was, besides cushioning the effect of the Lagdo dam flooding, supposed to generate some 300mw of electricity and irrigate about 150,000 hectares of land (and provide crop tonnage of 790,000 tons in Adamawa, Taraba and Benue states). Similarly, it was meant to provide employment opportunities for 40,000 families and make available a navigational route of the Benue River to the Niger Delta. The project site was the Dasin Village of Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
However, the Dasin Hausa Dam never happened. Since 1982 when the dam was built in Lagdo town on the Adamawa Plateau in the Northern Province of Cameroon along the course of the Benue River, lowland communities in states in the North-East region, especially those located downstream within the River Benue drainage basin, are usually flooded whenever water is released from the reservoir. Therefore, the dam must be completed as a matter of national priority.
Then, other dams that have weakened as a result of extreme weather events, like the Dadin Kowa Dam of Gombe State, have to be strengthened.
Going forward, the governments at the state and federal levels must deliberately inculcate climate resilience in their infrastructural deployments and ancillary policy formulations. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the defining characteristic of climate-resilient infrastructure is infrastructure that “is planned, designed, built and operated in a way that anticipates, prepares for, and adapts to changing climate conditions.”
For many countries in developing regions, like Nigeria, the new-found sense of urgency to respond to these climate disasters offers an opportunity for additional investment in infrastructure investments, which can only engender win-win deliverables. According to the World Economic Forum, some of the foremost challenges in designing new systems to respond to the current challenges are policy misalignments, regulatory decisions, and policy frameworks which inadvertently discourage the use of innovative ecosystem-based solutions. This is a challenge that Tinubu and his team must confront in order to prepare Nigeria for the future.
