Nigeria: What's the Worth of Flood Alerts?

21 July 2021
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From Lagos to Jalingo, flood news has been reported in parts of Nigeria in the last few days. Streets and neighbourhoods have been submerged after intense rainfalls. Homes have been destroyed with farmlands devasted in rural areas. The socio-economic cost of the destruction is huge. The implications for health, welfare and food security are immense.

In Taraba State, at least 4,000 persons have been reportedly displaced in the last two days. About 300 houses have been damaged with some of them now under water in some places in Jalingo, the state capital. Taraba's northern neighbour, Adamawa, is not spared by the floods. The state government has warned residents to move to safer areas. In Cross River state a N3 billion World Bank erosion control project in Nkebre community in the state is threatened by the prevailing environmental disorder. According to members of the community a combination of lack of drainages and bad roads may cause the failure of the project. The matter is made worse by the heavy rainfalls recorded already this year in the state. Floods have caused enormous material damage in Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti state and Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State. In Kaduna state, about 305 relocation notices have been issued by the state environmental protection agency to those living in risky areas. Residents were advised to stop dumping refuse on waterways and drainages. There are fears that endemic erosion problems in some states such as Anambra, Akwa Ibom and Imo states could compound flooding with the predicted heavy rains.

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