Mr Joshua Alabi residing in Kabawa area of Lokoja says he will never wish his worst enemy to be a victim of flood disaster given the experience of 2012 and 2022 in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State.

Alabi, 29 years old, is Computer and Software Engineering graduate and a fisherman.

“Whenever I see the pictures or videos of flood disaster, I get emotional because it reminds me of the ugly experience my family faced during the disasters.

“In 2022, we noticed that the water level was going up in the area and other coastal communities.

“Before we understood what the situation was, the entire area got flooded, our houses and every other property were submerged.

“The water level was so high that dangerous animals such as snakes were sighted rampantly within the area,” he said.

According to him, the worst hit areas are Gadumor, Ganaja village, Nyamanya junction, old market area and Papa areas in Lokoja.

Alabi said, because of the strong waves and rising flood level in Ganaja village, a boat capsized, and six persons died.

He said government started embankment project as a measure to reduce the impact of future in Lokoja. He said unfortunately, the project was later abandoned.

Also, Peter Ejeh, another resident of Adankolo area of Lokoja regretted that in spite the gravity of loses including deaths during the 2012 and 2022 flood disasters, some people were obstinate on heeding to experts’ early flood warning.

“I find it very worrisome that in flood prone areas in Lokoja, people are still living comfortably within the red line areas in spite warning for them to relocate to safer areas.

“My advice is for those still living in flood danger zones to understand that nothing weighs more than life,” he said.

Lokoja is christened “the Confluence town” because it is the meeting point of River Niger and River Benue, the two major rivers in Nigeria, which accounts for high impact of flooding in the area like other communities on the bank of the two rivers.

Environmental experts had blamed the flood disaster in 2012 and 2022, the worst in the country in recent years on water discharged from Lagdo Dam in northern Cameroon and dumping of refuse in drainages causing blockage.

The also blamed it on building on flood plains with no provisions for surface drainage, the tidal movements of coastal waters, saturated drainage systems, such as in the country’s largest city, Lagos among other factors.

Apart from Lokoja and other riverine communities some urban centres across Nigeria all record the problem due largely to poor sanitary attitude of the residents.

Available records showed that in 2022 alone, no fewer than 600 lives were lost with about 1.4 million persons displaced across the country.

Conscious of the devastating impacts of the two disasters, relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and even as state governments are in partnership to avert a repeat.

Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Mr Prof. Joseph Terlumun Utsev, released the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) recently in Abuja.

Utsev indicated that 148 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 31 states of the Federation are at risk of high flood.

According to him 249 Local Government Areas in 31 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are within moderate flood risk areas.

These states include Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo and Jigawa.

Others are Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Yobe.

The Minister also highlighted that high flood risk are to be expected in areas across three distinct seasons: April, May, and June (AMJ); July, August, and September (JAS); and October and November (ON).

He said that a committee has been put in place with a charge to develop a roadmap to enhance Nigeria’s capabilities in flood mitigation, preparedness.

He said the committee would also work out modalities for its adaptation, and response, informed by periodic updates from the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and relevant MDAs in the disaster risk reduction sector.

The Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation, Mr Bello Goronyo, urged policymakers, planners, farmers, stakeholders, and the public to undertake mitigation measures to enhance safety and reduce potential damages to floods.

He advocated increased awareness and sensitisation to improve flood preparedness and management, particularly in high-risk zones.

Prof. Charles Anosike, Director-General, Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and Permanent Representative of Nigeria World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to improving disaster risk preparedness against flooding.

“In 2012, the destructive effects of the excess water released from the Lagdo Reservoir in northern Cameroon and torrential summer rainfall killed 600 people, displaced millions of others, and destroyed over 152,575 hectares of farmland in Nigeria.

“In 2022, the flooding caused over 600 deaths and affecting an estimated 3.2 million people across 34 of the country’s 36 states. The floods destroyed over 569,251 hectares of farmland,” Anosike said.

He said the agency was ready to partner other MDAs to ensure that history did not repeat itself.

Mrs Zubaida Umar, Director-General, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) worked the talk on the sensitisation against flood by organsing a programme in Awka, Anambra State.

She urged community participation in mitigating flooding in the country.

Umar said that the rainfall and flood advisories contained in the 2024 seasonal climate prediction and annual flood outlook indicated that Anambra fell under the 31 states at risk of high and moderate flood.

Also speaking, Gov. Chukwuma Soludo said erosion and flooding which had become an existential threat to the country, required the intervention of the Federal Government and other stakeholders.

Soludo, represented by his Deputy, Dr Onyekachi Ibezim, said the government had developed a work plan to mitigate the impact of flooding in the state.

“The state government is prepared for the emergencies and ready to work with NEMA to reduce the impacts of the annually recurring floods to safeguard the lives and property of the people,” he said.

In Lagos, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Works has directed the removal of silted drains along federal roads with a view to curbing flood on the highways.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mrs Olukorede Kesha, said after 10 hours rainfall which resulted to heavy flash flood in parts of the economic nerve centre of the country on July 4 the measure was to check flood disaster.

Kesha said that the ministry understood the inconvenience caused by the flash flood recorded on July 4 and was committed to eliminating the disruptions caused thereafter.

Mr. Moses Osogi, the Cross River State Commissioner for Environment, says the state government is taking steps towards containing the impact of any eventual flooding in the state.

Osogi said in Calabar that the plan followed the 2024 prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) which listed the state among the area at risk of flood disaster.

He said the state government had made arrangements towards reducing the impact of flooding in the state during the year, he said.

Osogi warned residents of the state against erecting structures on waterways, saying that the state government would prosecute anyone found flouting the order.

With the early warning for the 2024 season, environment experts insist that the topography of some communities, improper waste disposal which results to blocked drains could exacerbate the problem.

It is important that vulnerable areas should intensify efforts to improve drainage infrastructure. Adhering to disaster warnings, enhanced resilience through investments in flood control mechanisms is also advised.

By Francis Onyeukwu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)