On the heels of the deadly floods that hit Maiduguri, Borno State capital, last week, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA, has issued an alert to state governors, especially those around River Niger, of the possibility of floods in the coming weeks following what the agency described as the river’s rising water level.
Quoting a report from the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), Niamey, Niger Republic, the Director General, DG, NIHSA, Umar Ibrahim Mohammed, said the rising water level of the River Niger system was noticed around August 23, 2024, stressing that all the states and communities along the River Niger system should be on alert.
States immediately at risk, according to the agency, include Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Niger and Kogi.
Mohammed, however, added: “We hope by the time it (water) gets to Kogi, because of the lock-up dams we have along to reduce the speed, the level and the impact (will go down).
The DG also said NIHSA was informing governors about the potential floods that could result from the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun.
Besides the Maiduguri disaster, floods occasioned by downpour have recently wreaked havoc in Jigawa, Bauchi and Adamawa states, among others, taking lives and causing significant damage to properties as lands were washed away.
Mohammed, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, said: “It is glaringly clear that we have been seeing how floods have been ravaging communities, and that is due to the fact that there has been an excessive rainfall.
“You can’t really determine the level because climate change has been so unpredictable. The water level has been rising up based on climate change. So that is basically what has been happening.
“It is mostly based on the excessive rainfall that has been taking place in some areas in some states.
“For instance, Jigawa State, around the Borno and Yobe axis, for the past one week, there has been continuous rainfall, and that has been the reason why we saw water rising and taking over communities.
“But it is expected that the water should flow through Yobe, through River Damaturu because of the afforestation project that took place; I think, in the early 60s, 70s, there was a lot of sand banking to control erosion.
“So those are the milestones that have been stopping the continuous flow of this rainfall down to those rivers, tributaries that channel the water to Lake Chad.
“So those are some of the reasons that we have been seeing a different trend now taking over the roads and also the communities around Bauchi, Jigawa, and Yobe states.”
Jigawa, Bauchi scenarios
On the disastrous floods in Jigawa and Bauchi states, among others, the DG said: “What the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency does is we analyze the behaviour of water, then we put up a forecast as to the expected behaviour of the water is, that is all.
“Most of this preparedness takes place at the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, NEMA; they are the ones that prepare for any emergency happening.
“But here at NIHSA, we analyze the data and share with them for them to know the quantum of effect that may likely take place in terms of this disaster, and they are to put up the disaster management activities at the national level, but they collaborate with states.
“The floods didn’t hit Jigawa State alone, but Bauchi State as well and lots of communities were affected.
“In fact, in Bauchi State, we have lost about three or four major roads to this floods, cutting off entire roads, highways that connect Kano to Maiduguri, they are totally cut off.
“Some parts of Jigawa around Hadejia axis and Zaki in Bauchi are waterlogged area and the Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority is, and it is mostly a flat land, and as it is, it can only take certain amount of water; the ground if it cannot take anymore, that is why it keeps on ravaging communities because the ground cannot take more water than it has already taken.
“So that is basically why that Jigawa axis is having too much flooding unlike some of the states like Bauchi which has mountain areas, a lot of rivers.
“When there is consecutive rainfall going on for like three, four days, surely the ground cannot take that excessive water, it can only take a certain amount of water, and then the remaining just be spilling.
“My major concern is to reduce destruction of properties, destruction of lives.
“In my community in Bauchi, we have lost about over 10 communities to flooding, and it is in just one local government area called Gamawa.
“The victims are taking refuge in primary schools, hospitals.
“They have lost their homes, and a particular community is 90 per cent ravaged by floods, and more floods are expected.
“The larger effect is that there’s an economic impact, not to talk about the health issues from water borne diseases. So, it is devastating, and those are the things that we really want to arrest before they even happen. This is the new direction that the agency wants to take now”.
Coming weeks
Speaking on what the agency expects to happen in coming weeks, Mohammed said: “We are expecting the usual. When there are excess water activities around Mali and Niger Republic because we communicate with them, we have this inter-boundary communication linkages and synergy, so we communicate with them, just as we communicate with official Lagdo in Cameroon as well. So we communicate with the Niger Basin too.
“They usually give us an early warning if they notice the water level there is going high.
“Now it gets to a threshold where it becomes worrisome, so they quickly alert us about the water level.
“In such a case when we get this warning, we usually inform the Shiroro and Kanji Dams to spill their water so as to contain what is coming, so that they will reduce the impact of the water flowing into the country through the Niger Basin.
“These dams will secure some of the water, then the rest will continue to flow, by effect reducing the force or quantum of water coming in as floods. So that is the kind of relationship we have and those are the things that we try to manage, to reduce the impact of flooding in the country”.
Lagdo Dam alert
He explained that state governors were already being alerted ahead of water release from Lagdo Dam
“They (Lagdo Dam) will surely inform us when it reaches that level.
“Like I told you, we have about three layers, so it has not gotten to that level yet, but as soon as it gets there, they will surely let us know, then we will put up the necessary warning and inform the immediate stakeholders.
“Just like this one, we are already informing the state governors that are the immediate stakeholders (of River Niger), and they are the governors of Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Niger and Kogi states.
“We hope by the time it (water) gets to Kogi, because of the lock-up dams we have along to reduce the speed, the level and the impact (go down)”.
New focus
The NIHSA boss said some of the critical areas the agency was looking into now were in curtailing the damages.
“We are trying to come up with schemes and projects such that we will change the narrative and system instead of waiting for the floods to take place, damaging people’s properties and taking lives”, Mohammed said.
“We want to come up with a project where we take advantage of these water activities to reverse and re-channel it into other uses.
“We could bring up things like the tourism sector, improved irrigation mechanisms, and a lot of other things.
“States could dam the water and then supply the people as pipe-borne water.
“And communities around the riverine areas could vacate their immediate locations and move a little further and try to channel these waters for their use.
“Now, they mostly use the water for fishing because it is their livelihood, and they do not want to leave their communities because of the economic advantage they are tapping from these waterways.
“But if we can come up with a plan where we could relocate them from such settlements, flood prone areas and move them maybe a bit further away, and try to extend the water to them for continuous economic businesses like fishing, farming and consumption as well, those are the things that we are now looking into such that we would have less disastrous impacts on communities.
“This cannot be achieved without the cooperation of state governors, local governments, sister agencies, including the mother Ministry – Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
“We are putting up a structure, and we have started discussing with them and encouraging them to key into this project, such that it will improve the economy by taking advantage of this disaster called floods”.
Forecast
Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, had, while presenting the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook, AFO, Report earlier in the year, forecasted that about 35,870,100 Nigerians in 10 states may be worst hit by flood during the year.
Utsev listed the states to include Kano, Lagos, Taraba, Jigawa, Kogi, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Ogun, and Niger.
According to the Report, from all indications, there will be food crisis and high food prices that would compound the current situation following the huge number of hectares of farmland with assorted food crops cultivated by would be devastated including infrastructures (houses, factories, markets, roads, bridges, and others) would be destroyed between April and November, 2024.
It pointed out that on High Flood Risk Areas between the months of April and November, 2024, the level of floods in this category is expected to be high in terms of impact on the population, agriculture, livelihoods, livestock and infrastructure, and the environment.
Meanwhile, NEMA Director General, DG, Zubaida Umar, speaking on last Tuesday flood disaster that hit Maiduguri and other towns in Borno State resulting from the rupture of the Alau Dam, said during the National Emergency Coordination Forum on Thursday, “The current trend of flooding indicated that 29 states and 172 LGAs have been impacted by flooding, affecting 1,048,312 people, displaced 625,239 and have led to the death of 259 lives.”
The devastation caused by the rupture of the dam on the Ngadda River, 20 kilometres south of Maiduguri, affected over 150,000 individuals and 23,000 households, according to NEMA.
“The last three days have over 150,000 individuals with over 23,000 households affected”, NEMA Zonal Coordinator, Surajo Garba, said
Vice President Kashim Shettima, during his visit to Maiduguri, lamented, “The flood, which began over the weekend and worsened in the following days, was the direct result of excess water from the Alau Dam.
“The collapse of the spillways unleashed a significant surge of water downstream, causing widespread flooding in the surrounding communities.”
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Utsev, on his part, sympathized with the people of Maiduguri and other towns, saying Alau Dam wass intact and not collapsed as speculated in some quarters, and not being the cause of the flood disaster that overran the people, environment and livelihood in an unprecedented magnitude.
“We didn’t actually envisage that the level of the water that comes this year it will be of this magnitude because of the climate change, the downpour was in excess, and the rivers could not actually contain the water, and more water that was unexpected was being spilled into Alau Dam, and it has spilled over the dyke.
“There was no collapse of Alau Dam. It was one of the dykes that could not hold excess water that came from the tributaries that overflowed the dam”, he said.
However, the Minister warned that there is going to be serious flooding in the Niger Delta region and other southern states, hence the government and people should activate emergency measures to mitigate the impact.
“As we mourn the losses in Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Bauchi and other states affected by flooding, the attention of Nigerians is hereby drawn to the probable river flooding on rivers Niger and Benue and some of their tributaries. The daily flow on these rivers indicates significant increase in flow levels tending towards RED alert.
“This warning means that a large volume of water is moving through our rivers down to the delta region. Therefore, we should increase vigilance on all ramifications and step up proactive measures to address any eventual flooding events in the southern part of the country”, he added.
The situation of the flood disaster is escalating across the country, in Katsina State 15 people have been killed while 3,000 persons displaced, while 21,481 injured in Katsina between early August to early September, and this was disclosed by the Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Hajiya Binta Dagani.
Dagani also said the flood also damaged a total of 32,542 houses in 32 local government areas of the State, affecting Dutsinma, Daura, Kaita, Katsina, Batagarawa, Funtua, Malumfashi, and Musawa.
Also, some communities in Kafanchan Local Government Area, and some other villages in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State were devastated by the raging flood, and killed two children, while displacing over 1,000 people.
Kafancha Municipality, Jagindi, Atuku, Aso, and Bade wards, were affected, and also destroyed crops and farmlands running into millions of Naira.
Vice Chairman of the local government, Mrs. Christy Usman, announced this when the Kaduna State Impact Assessment Committee on Flood toured the affected communities in southern Kaduna
The council chief said the flood, which occurred in Kafanchan Municipal City, Jagindi, Atuku, Aso, and Bade wards, also washed away farmlands and destroyed crops worth millions of naira.
Meanwhile, NEMA as of September 1, 2024 indicated that 140 LGAs in 28 States have been terribly affected by the raging flood; 548,484 persons affected; persons displaced 208,736; houses destroyed 80,891; 185 persons killed; 2,034 persons injured; and 107,652 hectares of farmlands devastated.
The report also showed that in Bauchi State 85,870 persons were affected; Zamfara State 74,958 persons; Sokoto State recorded 73,886 persons; Jigawa State 57,290 persons; 30,102 persons in Niger State; Kano State18,550 persons; Adamawa State 17,530 persons; Imo 17,887; Ondo 17,286; Borno 16,687; Taraba 16,403; Kwara 11,830; Katsina 10,976; Gombe 10,153; Benue 10,012; and Lagos 9,324.
However, States mildly affected by the flood based on the number of persons are: Oyo 2,040, Kogi 1,659, Ebonyi 1,594, Akwa Ibom 1,571, and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, 872.
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