Nigeria’s Perennial Flood: Occurrence of preventable disasters II, by Prof MK Othman
The question I asked in the last line of this piece last week was, “What are the causes of floods, and how have we failed to prevent their occurrence in recent years?” The leading causes of floods in Nigeria are well known.
These include inadequate drainage systems, silted dams and waterways, invasion by aquatic weeds, typha grass overgrowing in river channels and beds, as well as illegal diversions, encroachments on waterways for construction and farming, heavy rainfall over long periods, among other issues. Despite early flood warnings and awareness of the causes, the number of flood events, their severity, affected areas, and negative socio-economic impacts continue to increase each year.
Why is it so?
Several complexities and factors influence policy formulation and implementation, making the question of “why is it so” difficult to answer. First, government agencies such as NIHSA, NiMet, NAERLS, and others responsible for Early Warning (EW) information and communication may not be effectively cooperating to address flood challenges directly.
Is there a government strategy that unites FMAFS, FMWR, FML, and state ministries of agriculture, as well as ADPs, to confront flood occurrences and mitigation? To the best of my knowledge, as a nation, we have only paid lip service to the issue of flood prevention and mitigation.
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The Niger River has a catchment area shared by nine countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.
These countries formed the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) in 1964. Nigeria, located downstream, receives water from the river basin, so it is expected to benefit from the river flowing through it. The river passes through these nations and discharges an average of 5,589 cubic meters per second into the Atlantic Ocean via Nigeria.
With a length of 4,180 km and a drainage basin covering 2.1 million km², it ranks as the third-largest river in Africa. It has six major perennial tributaries that crisscross Nigeria. Lokoja is the confluence where the Rivers Benue and Niger meet. During the rainy season, a large volume of water is received at this confluence; for example, in June 2023, the maximum water level (WL) recorded was 4.07 m, corresponding to a flow of 4,457 m³/s on June 30, 2023, while the minimum WL was 2.43 m, with a flow of 1,892 m³/s recorded on June 5, 2023.
The mean WL was 3.02 m, corresponding to an average discharge of 2,761 m³/s. Which agency is responsible for ensuring that the water passing through Nigeria drains safely into the ocean, especially under current climate change conditions? Is it NIHSA?
Every advantage has its disadvantages. With poor management, the large volume of water becomes a liability, turning Nigeria into a flood-prone nation that consumes lives and properties annually.
This year, 2025, like previous years, NIHSA predicted floods for 1,249 communities in 176 local government areas (LGAs) across 30 states and the FCT that are in high-risk flood zones. In comparison, an additional 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs face moderate flood risks. Specifically, the report predicted that six states — Abia, Benue, Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Jigawa — would be most affected by the flooding. Now, what do we do to prevent the occurrence of the flood?
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First, the top priority is unity of purpose among the three levels of government—federal, state, and local—to collaborate in preventing floods from occurring and mitigating their effects when they do happen.
The issue of recurring flooding should not be the sole responsibility of the federal government; all 36 state governments should be involved. Families and communities across the nation are the victims of flooding; therefore, even local government areas should be at the forefront of taking preventive measures against persistent flooding.
Second, we must identify flood-prone areas and assess their likely severity. While NIHSA’s annual flood prediction already marks these areas, we need to take further steps to prevent flooding or reduce its impact if it occurs.
This approach should be comprehensive and holistic, involving state governments, local governments, and communities. So far, there is no indication that such a holistic plan is being developed.
As a short-term measure, we need to urgently mobilize citizens to clear water channels such as gutters in cities, remove sediments, buildings, and any other obstacles that block water flow in all township drains.
We should also clean our streets and direct debris to designated areas. While implementing these immediate actions, we must use media campaigns to encourage people to participate in regular environmental sanitation efforts. The government must also enforce penalties against individuals who obstruct waterways, gutters, drains, and manholes.
The next step is to develop a medium- and long-term strategy focused on managing our water reservoirs and dams.
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A recent study revealed that Nigeria has 323 large, medium, and small dams that are constructed and operational. Most of these dams are owned by the Federal Government, with a total storage capacity of over 30 billion cubic meters of water. Including dams and reservoirs owned by states and local governments, Nigeria has more than 600 dams.
However, many of these dams are severely underutilized. As an irrigation engineer, I have visited several dams across the country. Most were built for irrigation, hydropower, industrial, and domestic water supplies, but 20 to 30 years after construction, less than 30% of the irrigation facilities are complete. I have not seen any large or medium dams where irrigation development exceeds 60% of the planned facilities.
Many of the large dams were designed with hydropower capacity, but over 30 years later, that feature has often not been implemented; examples include Dadin Kowa, Tiga, Bakalori, Ikere Gorge, and others. The biggest issue with our dams is poor maintenance, as many are silted with thousands of tons of sediments.
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The River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA), responsible for operating and maintaining these dams, are in shambles due to gross underfunding, understaffing, and a lack of proper facilities to manage the dams effectively.
For the FGN to achieve food security and reduce poverty easily as well as prevent flooding and sooner rather than later, President Tinubu should declare an emergency on dam renovation and rehabilitation across the country—not merely financial investment, but with credible experts overseeing the achievement of this emergency target; otherwise, it will be like fetching water with a basket.
Additionally, there is a lack of synergy among RBDA, the dam owners, the Agricultural Development Programs, grassroots agricultural extension agencies in all 36 states, and agencies under FMAFS responsible for agricultural development. This contributes to the low utilization of dams in Nigeria.
Instead of building more dams, we should focus on making existing dams effective and increasing their capacity use. The government should find ways to encourage these agencies to collaborate on shared goals, thereby boosting productivity and reducing costs.
In conclusion, my piece serves as a call to action to save the lives and property of our fellow citizens by awakening and stopping the preventable occurrence of floods. The sooner we wake up, the better; otherwise, we will ‘murder sleep and sleep no more’. Our population is growing rapidly, and flooding poses a major obstacle to achieving food security. May God guide our leaders in addressing these challenges, amen.
Prof. M. K. Othman, MNIAE, MNSE, MASABE
(Professor of Soil and Water Engineering)
NAERLS, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
+2348065571637
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