Pragmatic approach to addressing the menace of perennial flooding in Nigeria, by Mohammed Musa
Story by Jessica Mbamah
In recent years, flooding has become a recurrent theme across the globe, from the northern to the southern pole. Countries worst hit include India, republic of Korea, USA, Indonesia, republic of Congo and Pakistan which had declared state of emergency in June 2025, with 337 death recorded according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Nigeria has been persistently reporting widespread flooding over the years, with over 15 million people at risk and about 27 out of the 36 states being affected, specifically from 2022 to 2025. Flood is mostly caused by excessive rainfall or other inputs from water bodies such as lakes and dams.
READ ALSO: NiMet warns of widespread thunderstorms, flooding
Flood inflicts damages on our fragile environment and leads to displacement with catastrophic consequences on livelihoods. Houses, properties, farmlands and public infrastructure were either submerged or washed away. Many people have lost their lives, others suffered from injuries and some were declared missing due to flood.
Significant number of residents were plagued by diseases such as cholera due to contamination of sources of water and food as it also causes psychological trauma. The magnitude of the impact of flood varies according to locations and also depending on the intensity of the flood, population’s exposure to the risk and the effectiveness of the in-country and the sub national levels response mechanisms.
Because it is a natural phenomenon, public institutions such as disaster management authorities, town and regional planning bodies as well as those responsible for the enforcement of environmental standards and regulations tend to neglect lessons from the reoccurring experience to plan for adaptation.
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Most of the responses towards flood are geared towards mitigation, investing huge resources and energies in palliative management after it has struck and the damages have happened afterward.
The palliative responses provide only succour to the survivors without tackling the fundamental issues that have exacerbated the adverse impacts. No one can dispute the fact that climate change is the major contributing factor for the incessant flooding, however human actions or inactions can define the magnitude of its impacts.
As part of Nigeria’s early warning system, the Federal Ministry of Environment (FMoE), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA) issued periodic and timely warning on impending flood to avert or mitigate its impacts. However, government and the residents heed to the early warning system, hence the consequences become enormous.
Tackling the menace of incessant flooding in Nigeria is a collective responsibility that require pragmatic interventions.
These include mainstreaming climate change impacts into government programmes through multi-sectoral approach for adaptation and mitigation, climate smart planning, intensive community engagement and awareness creation, institutional strengthening and the deployment of appropriate technology. Specifically, the following strategies can provide short, medium and long term solution.
READ ALSO:2025 Flood: 165 dead, 82 missing, 119,791 affected in 19 States – NEMA
Resettlement programme: Government at all level should embark on constructive dialogue with residents along river banks, seasonal water courses and coastal areas for them to understand the imperatives of relocation to higher grounds for safety.
This can be backed by mass housing programme by government for preferential allocation to the people at risk based on vulnerability not political considerations. Government should subsidize the cost of the houses to be affordable to the poorest.
The ongoing Renewed Hope Housing programme across the country and other similar initiatives by the state governments can key into this plan and can be implemented through phased approach. Another option is through fair compensation – land for land, cost of relocation and value of fixed assets are to be paid to facilitate the relocation. Those who are squatting in the areas should be supported with livelihoods and land allocation so that they can be evacuated gradually.
Climate smart town and regional planning: Flooding, especially in the cities is compounded by poor town planning and development control. Town and regional planners do not consider flooding as a technical factor in designing residential layouts. As a result, layouts are created in depressed areas, landslides and along seasonal water course which are prone to flash flood.
Human settlements have already littered such places in our cities while new residential building are consistently being erected. Climate smart town planning will integrate climate considerations into urban development to design resilient, sustainable and prosperous cities.
There is need for immediate retrofitting of the existing residential layouts. Areas that are identified as high risk are to be reclaimed and converted into green parks and gardens. The green parks are to be covered with vegetation made up of selective plant species that protect the soil from erosion, contribute to trapping of the surface run off water as well as carbon sequestration.
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Perennial Flood: Occurrence of preventable disasters, by Prof MK Othman
Political will to drive implementation of National Disaster Management Framework (NDMF): There is seeming lack of political will to drive the implementation of National Disaster Management Framework in Nigeria. This manifest in inadequate funding, lack of coordination, limited community participation, weak institutional capacity and collaboration. In order to reverse this scenario, there should be increased commitment from governments – federal, states and LGAs, through regular funding of disaster responses.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian affairs and Poverty Alleviation should take the lead through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in strengthening collaborative partnership in disaster management.
Stakeholders, including government agencies, INGOs, CSOs, community and religious leaders, research institutions should work in harmony through data sharing and collective decisions towards achieving common goal. Communities should be seen not just participating in the decisions, but taking the lead sine they bear the brunt directly. The NDMF, though comprehensive and inclusive should be reviewed to give flexibility for strengthening the disaster response mechanism.
Construction of resilient transport infrastructure: Highways and township roads are designed without data driven evaluation of impact of storm water surges that could lead to flooding and erosion. Many roads in Nigeria have been washed away and bridges have collapsed due to poor containment capacity to withstand the storm.
READ ALSO: Another flood in Niger submerges bridge, sweeps off culvert
This has caused major disruptions in movement of people and goods with far reaching socioeconomic implications. In 2023, commuters travelling from Damaturu to Gashua, a distance of about 185 km have to pass through Potiskum – Azare – Shuwarin – Ringim – Hadejia – Nguru – Gashua, covering about 500km due to collapsed bridges and washed away roads.
There are similar or worst scenarios across the country where flooding has taken its toll on the public transportation without remediation. High way Engineers should understand the direction and velocity of rivers and run off surface water based on available data in designing roads and bridges to create allowances for free flow of water.
There is also need for those involve in designing roads to engage with community members, especially those who have stayed for longer time to obtain qualitative data based on historical antecedents for decision.
Enforcement of environmental standards and regulations: Another factor that contribute to wide spread flooding is poor enforcement of environmental standards across the country. Nigeria’s environment is vulnerable due to its exposure to the excessive influence of human activities that are not monitored and controlled. For instance dumping of refuse inside drainages and lack of proper disposal of other solid wastes, deforestation are some of the daring challenges the country is experiencing.
It is against this background that the Nigeria Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) was established in 2007 to ensure cleaner and healthies environment through enforcement of all environmental laws, guidelines, policies, standards and regulations.
Since its establishment, NESREA is being confronted with operational challenges such as inadequate manpower and lack of technical capacity for effective monitoring, poor funding, and insufficient public awareness on environmental laws among others. These have weaken its capacity of the agency to assert its relevance and authority as a regulatory body.
Government should prioritize institutional strengthening for agencies like NESREA and state environmental protection agencies, to rise to the occasion as regulatory bodies for effective enforcement of environmental standards. This can be achieved through regular training of personnel and deployment of appropriate technology for monitoring, awareness creation on the environmental standards, regulation for compliance and regular funding and adaptation of international best practices.
Mohammed Musa, a social development expert, writes from Damaturu
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