ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) on Thursday urged Federal and States to develop contingency plans to lessen the impact of the 2023 flood as the rains began to fall throughout the nation.
The call was made at a press conference titled “Looming Flood in Nigeria” that AAN organised in Abuja. Country Director Ene Obi claimed that the flood of 2023 is already knocking and that only proactive measures will be able to lessen its effects.
The Director of Programmes, Suwaiba Muhammad, spoke on behalf of Obi, who remembered the catastrophic flood of 2012 that destroyed agriculture, drove 1.3 million people from their homes, and took 431 lives. But, Obi said that the flood of 2022 caused more damage overall.
She said: “News reports characterised the 2012 flooding as the worst in more than 40 years, but the 2022 levels of destruction and human displacement surpassed it.
“At the height of the flood in 2022, ActionAid Nigeria provided emergency response to some households severely affected in Bayelsa, Jigawa, Kogi, Anambra and Delta states. Within the last few months, we have also been providing post-emergency response to some households in Bayelsa and Jigawa with the hopes of helping them gradually rebuild their lives.
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“ActionAid Nigeria therefore calls on all relevant state actors to immediately develop and communicate their contingency plans especially for states like Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-Rivers, Delta, Kogi, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Rivers where people live on water.
“Non-Coastal States that are susceptible to floods like Jigawa, Adamawa, Kano, Zamfara, Ebonyi, Yobe, amongst others must also priorities theirs. This plan should not categorically include shutting down schools and health centres in states to serve as IDP camps as it was done in 2022.
“ActionAid Nigeria appeals to the federal and state government, emergency Management agencies and all concerned stakeholders to ensure that their contingency plan and intervention on flood this year commensurate with the level of impact.”
Also speaking was the Director Organisational Effectiveness, AAN, Funmi Olukeye, disclosed that the AAN is looking forward to building shelters, and training people to understand and know what action to take during Flooding.
Story adapted from Vanguard
