Flooding has reached scary proportions, as seen by recent events in Lagos State and elsewhere in the country. Flooding is not limited to Nigeria; it is a global issue. According to the Cable News Network, flooding reduces economic activity at a cost of more than $4 billion each year. This is why the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency’s warning of impending flooding in some areas is timely. According to the NIHSA, at least 15 states might be submerged in water, resulting in coastal and river flooding.

Past experiences in Nigeria show that flooding occurs as a result of the release of water in some dams and the breaking of their banks, inflicting further damage, particularly when the release is delayed. The consequences of this inactivity include massive loss of life and property, destruction of farmlands and ecosystems, increasing food insecurity, and environmental risks.

Aside from the detrimental impact on crops, floods ruins roads by making them inaccessible, delays business activity, and puts people at risk of accidents. As a result, continuous public education is required to persuade people to stop dumping trash into canals. The current approach appears to encourage illicit trash disposal because offenders are rarely captured and convicted. Many localities lack a central garbage collection infrastructure, forcing people to rely on self-help by hiring cart pushers to dispose of their refuse when they are unable to toss it away in gutters, drainages, or dry roads. We have poor waste quality management, violations of the master plan, indiscriminate dumping of linear low density polythene and hard density polyethylene, and a lack of greenbelts to allow water to soak naturally into the earth.

Lack of effective urban planning has led to floods, not just the amount of rainfall received. Most Nigerian cities are poorly planned, with residences and offices built with little consideration for nature and town planning. Lack of effective urban planning has led to floods, not just the amount of rainfall received. Most Nigerian cities are not well planned, with residences and offices built with little consideration for nature or town planning. This non-compliance with municipal planning requirements promotes flooding, which is a byproduct of building construction, as most builders do not associate flood generation with the corrugated iron sheet rooftops used in roofing houses.

Lagos, Africa’s most populated metropolis with around 25 million people, is a low-lying city on Nigeria’s coast that may become untenable by the end of the century due to climate change and population growth.

To address floods, the government should warn citizens not to clog gutters and drains with solid debris. During rainy seasons, citizens should refrain from putting rubbish into drainage systems. Those who erected residences along waterways should be asked to relocate, and such structures should be dismantled. Fighting indiscriminate garbage disposal needs collective effort, which is why it is necessary to combine advocacy groups, health bodies, media, farmer cooperatives, and neighbourhood associations to alleviate environmental concerns in order to lessen to the barest minimum, the negative effects of flooding.

Nigeria currently lacks effective disaster risk management measures, which is compounded by our failing ecosystem. As a result, national and state disaster management institutions should be reorganized and strengthened so that they can use technology to assess flood impacts. And measures such as dam construction, the use of nature-based remedies such as tree planting, and the provision of refuge and relief for victims would help people’s coping capacity and ability to manage floods successfully.

Equipping the quick reaction team, using drone technology to assess flood impact, training and retraining emergency personnel, and increasing capacity are all critical. It is also crucial to emphasize that proactive and contingency plans should be implemented to remove people to higher levels away from flood catastrophes and to offer  fresh drinking water to avert disease outbreak. 

Furthermore, water can be released from dams in a reasonable and controlled manner, reducing or eliminating disastrous situations. Furthermore, the government should strengthen planning policy, sustain urban growth and development, improve public health and people’s well-being, and expand stakeholder engagement in cities to handle the challenge in a broader way.