Another flood warning

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency through its Director General, Dr. Moses Beckley last week warned of impending flood carnage in some states in the federation. He made this disclosure in Abuja during his annual flood outlook for the year 2015, more so, as we have entered the high moments of the rainy season. The outlook classified the states according to High risk, Medium risk and Low risk flood areas. And although Kwara state is not listed among the high risk states, which include Niger, Delta, Anambra, Kogi, Bayelsa, Benue, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Nasarawa and Adamawa, the fact that two states sharing the same topography and border with Kwara: Niger and Kogi, are among the high risk states, calls for worry.

Of course Kwara is among the medium risk states. But the fact that nearby Niger and Kogi will be heavily affected with Rivers Benue and Niger playing lead roles means that we in Kwara should get prepared even more than the high risk states. River Niger is also part of our landmark and all the low lying or plain fields covering north to central Kwara State are truly flood prune areas. These are the rice growing parts. There are also farm lands that may be affected. These farm lands are peoples' investments and means of livelihood. The time to try to ameliorate what may happen is now. If we remember what happened in 2012, which marked the worst flooding in recorded history in Nigeria, we will know how to better take care of the environment now. Or how to cater for exigencies at this time to prevent the catastrophe of 2012 where up to 1, 000 lives were lost with many millions of households displaced. Property, farms and businesses washed away were worth hundreds of billions of naira. It was a massive devastation and we hope the predicted floods will not be anything near 2012 in magnitude. This has become even more important since funds made available for remediation appear to have taken flight. Most of the victims of that episode are yet to fully recover. Most of the devastated communities and infrastructure are still lying comatose, while most of the funds generated for the purposes of redemption were not properly utilised. So, some Nigerians, apart from losing their lives in the process, many that are alive are scarred for life. That is the tragedy of natural disasters. They strike at the heart of human beings and leave in its trail sorrow, tears and blood. However, it is human beings that will also seek palliative measures. The palliatives must start with prediction, prevention or (and) amelioration. The local, state and federal governments must devise strategies to push back the floods. It is not certain some of the earth works that were supposed to be carried out post 2012 along the river banks of Benue and Niger were ever contemplated. It appears as usual that we just moved on. It seems there were no remedies implemented. And even Nigerians living in the lowlands of the banks of these rivers from Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, to Anambra, Delta, Imo, Rivers, parts of Abia, Bayelsa have not taken care to do the needful. It seems we believe that because it's a natural disaster, therefore it is God that will put a stop to it. It may be important at this time to warn that while God can take care of every human and natural problem, God has also given humans the intellectual capability to solve this problem through science and that is why we can predict accurately what may happen in days, weeks and months about nature. That is why we have better technology to deal with issues as they relate to some of these problems. We can mount dykes for example to prevent overflows. We can convert low lying areas to massive farms for rice and related crops that do well in spite of flooding. We can improve on our fish farming if we encourage more dispersal of water along the banks etc to enable more accessible space to grow fresh water fishes of different species. Therefore collaboration is key among the tiers of government to better manage any predicted outcomes of another heavy flooding. And it is imperative therefore to ensure that our governments, especially that of our home state take seriously the warning/prediction of the Hydrological Agency seriously. There is nothing wrong if from now the Kwara governor takes up the mantle of leading efforts to remind all and sundry of the dangers of every year flooding in the high risk states and also lead discussions on what can be done about it. That will be a great legacy when it succeeds.