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THE floodwaters are here again, wreaking havoc across Nigeria. The country watches in horror as the death toll mounts. The National Emergency Management Agency reported that 195 lives have already been lost to the deluge as of August 30. This is a heavy toll.
NEMA said on August 28 that the floods had ravaged 113 of the 774 LGAs in 28 of the 36 states. The floods displaced 207,902 persons and affected 526,703 others. Late in the day, governments are scrambling to contain the disaster.
Therefore, these figures are likely to climb, given that the floods are still raging, the water level in the River Benue is steadily rising, and Cameroon is set to release water from the Lagdo Dam. The devastation is a depressingly familiar pattern, with state governments displaying a staggering level of negligence.
Warnings were issued, and alarms were sounded but were not heeded. NEMA, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, and the Ministry of Environment have repeatedly issued flood alerts since mid-2023. The list of vulnerable areas included Langtang and Shendam in Plateau, Sumaila and Tudun Wada in Kano, Shagari and Goronyo in Sokoto, and numerous others across Delta, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Borno, Jigawa, Kwara, and Niger states.
The warnings continued into 2024, with NEMA again urging evacuations from flood-prone zones. The current disaster suggests that the state governments either did not believe the warnings or did not care.
The 2024 floods are proving to be just as devastating. In Sokoto, over N160 billion has been extorted from the already beleaguered populace by bandits, taking advantage of the chaos that comes with such natural disasters.
The River Benue has reached the yellow warning point in Adamawa and is rising. In Kogi, Delta, and Anambra, the floods are expected to converge as the waters from the River Benue meet those of the River Niger, creating a perfect storm that will likely devastate these regions.
The NBS said the 36 states received N39.62 billion in one year to June 2024 as ecological funds. The fund is being put to bad use and should be accounted for.
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs said Nigeria lost $9.12 billion to the 2022 floods, and 4.9 million people were affected.
The failure is not just at the state level. Local government authorities are culpable. LGAs are supposed to be the first line of defence in any disaster management plan. In most cases, the LGAs were either asleep at the wheel or actively contributed to the chaos by failing to coordinate with state and federal agencies.
The silence from the LGAs is deafening. How many of them can show any preparation for the floods? They should explain why, despite being forewarned, they allowed their communities to be caught unprepared.
The time for action is now. With climate change advancing, the floods will be here for a long time. The country cannot afford to be caught off guard year after year. The lives of Nigerians are too precious to be left in the hands of governors and local authorities, who have repeatedly shown that they are either unwilling or unable to protect them. It is time for a new approach—one that prioritises the safety and well-being of the people.
As the floodwaters rise, so should be the people’s demand for accountability. The devastation that is seen today is the result of years of negligence, incompetence, and mismanagement.
The governors and LGAs must answer for their failures, and the Federal Government must take decisive action to ensure this does not happen again. It is time for proactive governance, not reactive excuses. The lives and livelihoods of millions of Nigerians depend on it.
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