Flood ravages Ogun communities in Nigeria

Kehinde Akinyemi in All-Africa.com via the Daily Trust (Nigeria): A three-hour rainfall on Tuesday wrecked havoc in some communities in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, Daily Trust gathered. The affected areas include Ijaiye, Ago Ika, Olomore, Abule Otun, among others.

Residents of Abule Otun in Abeokuta-South Local Government Area, were mostly hit as they lost property worth millions of naira. Meanwhile, the state government has vowed to demolish all structures on waterways in the area.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun, during a visit to the area, said the flood was as a result of blockage of the waterways. He said his administration would embark on proper channelization to free the water, and that the exercise would involve demolition of some houses.

He assured the affected residents that staff of Ministry of Physical Planning, National Emergency Management Agency and State Emergency...

Nigeria and UNDP launch national digital flood model

AllAfrica.com via Leadership (Abuja): The Federal Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, has launched a National Digital Flood Model for better forecasting and monitoring of flooding nationwide.

The Minister of Environment, Mrs Laurentia Mallam, said this at the public presentation and launch of the instrument in Abuja. Represented by Mrs Rabi Jimeta, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mallam said that it would ensure effective environmental governance and prompt response to impending flood disaster.

She said that the model permits interaction between predicted hydro-metrological data and earth surface conditions such as land use and soil type. However, she said that the major challenge to the use of the model was for it to be adopted in flood management service delivery in the country.

According to her, the forum was organised forum to discuss ways to create awareness among stakeholders on the adoption of the model in flood management. The minister said the launch and public presentation of the model was organised to facilitate interaction among stakeholders on the operations and success of the Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) and the National Digital Flood Model in the monitoring and management of flood in Nigeria....

Cholera surges in Cameroon

IRIN: Rains and insecurity caused by Nigerian Islamist militants are aggravating a cholera outbreak in northern Cameroon which has killed at least 75 people and infected some 1,400 others since April. Water scarcity, poor public health care and risky hygienic practices have rekindled the disease which badly hit the country between 2009 and 2011, experts say.

Population movement during the current school holidays could help spread infections to other regions of Cameroon or even to neighbouring countries, said Félicité Tchibindat, a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Cameroon.

The first cholera case was in a Nigerian family who were among a group of refugees fleeing to Cameroon from bombings and attacks by Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremist militia in April. Scarcity of safe drinking water, open defecation and other poor hygienic habits have exacerbated the cholera cases in northern Cameroon, Tchibindat said.

More than 26,000 cholera cases have been reported in Nigeria since the start of the year, according to health authorities. “For the moment we are supporting health workers, conducting community sensitization, supplied water and cholera treatment kits. But given the insecurity, whether the community mobilizers can visit all the villages is a question we are still asking ourselves,” Tchibindat told IRIN....

Donor support to Sahel "anaemic"

IRIN: More donor support is needed to help close the US$1.5 billion funding gap in the Sahel this year and protect the livelihoods of the estimated 20.2 million people who are at risk of food insecurity. Only 30 percent of the $2.2 billion appeal to fight hunger and malnutrition, and build resilience in the region has been met by donors as of July, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"The funding for the whole effort is what I would characterize as pretty anaemic," said Robert Piper, the UN regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel. "We are well short of what we require, and to make the task even more difficult, the budget has increased since the beginning of the year."

Due to the influx of refugees from the ongoing crisis in the Central African Republic into neighbouring Sahel countries, an additional $200 million was added to the initial appeal to provide life-saving assistance to the more than 2.4 million refugees, internally displaced people and returnees now living in the region, as well as the host communities taking them in.

"Outside the usual recurring situations in the Sahel, the conflict in CAR and northern Nigeria is quite worrisome this year, as are the collateral effects in neighbouring Chad and Cameroon," said Stephane Doyon, a regional emergency response representative for Médecins Sans Frontières. "The refugees have lots of needs, which are additional needs to be met. "...

A 2005 shot of a refugee camp in Chad, shot by Mark Knobil, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr,  under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

The lingering pain of Nigerian flooding

Ola Ajayi in AllAfrica.com via the Vanguard (Nigeria): While some survivors of the flood disaster recorded in some parts of Ibadan metropolis are trying to put the incident behind them, others are yet to come to terms with the painful reality of the incident where a make-shift bridge collapsed and emptied those on it into the raging flood.

While it is true that the State Government has reconstructed the collapsed bridge and also provided free transportation system for residents of the area, those affected are still nursing the scars of that disaster, saying that the experience was still fresh and too painful for them to forget in a hurry.

Following claims by the state government that there was no casualty as reported in the media, Vanguard Metro, VM, tried to locate some of the relatives of the victims of the flood. It coincided with the day that Senator Olufemi Lanlehin who represents the Oyo South visited the residents and gave them items to reduce their trauma.

Some of those interviewed were furious and said it was unfair to say there were no casualties at Apete where they claimed they saw many people being swept away by the flood. To get the truth of the matter, VM accosted one of the students of The Polytechnic Ibadan who then volunteered to lead the correspondent to the children of one of the dead victims, the late Kamoli Jimoh, a father of seven children....

Senate asks Nigerian government to avert flooding, ocean surge in coastal states

Omololu Ogunmade and Adebiyi Adedapo in AllAfrica.com via This Day (Nigeria):  As the world enters into the rainy season, the Senate yesterday asked the federal government to ensure judicious use of ecological funds by putting in place measures aimed at bringing a lasting solution to the recurrent problem of ocean surge along coastal lines in different parts of the country.

The parliament also tasked the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to send relief materials to Nigerians who have already been displaced by ocean surge in coastal areas.

The call followed a motion by Senator Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central) in which he expressed the plights of Nigerians residing in coastal communities in Bayelsa and Delta States whom he said were recently displaced by an ocean surge which submerged their communities and destroyed their source of livelihood.

According to Paulker, the surge displaced and washed away many lives in Koluama I, Koluama II, Foropa and many other communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State last week. He said the communities which blamed the flood on the "unmitigated impact" of an explosion and fire from Chevron's oil rig, lamented how it washed away their markets as well as properties worth billions of naira and consequently put them in a state of anguish.

The senator said the surge was caused by the failure to address Chevron's oil rig explosion and fire which he said occurred in Koluama in January 2012, recalling that such under water explosions and vibrations triggered the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which claimed 290,000 lives and affected about 14 countries along the ocean coast....

A thunderstorm brews in the Bight of Bonny off the Nigerian coast, oil rig in the foreground, shot by Swandau, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license 

Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission discuss measures to curb flooding

AllAfrica.com via the Daily Independent (Lagos): The Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation on Mondaypledged to identify protective measures against flooding in the two countries. The Secretary-General of the commission, Alhaji Abduljalil Sulaiman, said this at the opening of the meeting of the Standing Committee of experts on Water Resources in Sokoto.

Sulaiman said that the commission invited experts in order to provide the people of Nigeria and Niger with satisfactory responses to their multi-faceted and legitimate expectations.

"The experts were invited to thoroughly and attentively consider all the agenda items and come up with pertinent recommendations which will enable the NNJC to overcome and even strike out barriers affecting the equitable sharing of common Water resources."

Sulaiman also said that the committee was saddled with the responsibility of examining and adopting the terms of reference of the feasibility study of the Dole-Kaina Area. "This is in order to identify protective measures against flood therein, with a view to promoting the development of socio-economic activities."...

On the banks of the Niger River in Niamey, Niger, shot by http://www.flickr.com/people/rolandh/ Roland (diasUndKompott), Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Nigerian flood victims appeal to government for assistance

AllAfrica.com via the Daily Independent (Lagos): Flood victims in Calabar metropolis have appealed to the Cross River State Government and organisations to assist them with relief materials and financial support. They madetheir request known on Tuesday in Calabar when the News Agency of Nigeria visited some of the flooded areas.

NAN reports that the rain which caused the flooding, started around 10 p.m. on Monday and stopped at about 8am on Tuesday. Narrating her ordeal to NAN, Mrs Patricia Archibong, a resident of the Calabar South Local Government Area, said that it rained for about 10 hours.

According to her, the rain pulled down her fence and flooded her living room. "Flooding has been our major problem in this Elijah Henshaw street, we are always victims of flooding whenever the rainy season comes. "As a result of this flood, I have lost most of my valuables, including foodstuff, furniture, electronics and others," she said.

Archibong appealed to the Cross River Government and organisations to look into their plight and alleviate their sufferings. Speaking after inspecting the flooded areas in Calabar South, Mr Aloysius Edet, described the incident as pathetic...

Nigeria's dams contain enough water for 2014 dry season farming

AllAfrica.com via the Vanguard (Nigeria): An official of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Dr Emmanuel Adanu, said on Thursday that Nigeria's existing dams had stored enough sufficient water for 2014 dry season farming.

Adanu, the Director, Dams and Reservoir Operations said this in an interview on Thursday in Abuja. " We are working in close collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture now in their quest to provide food for the populace. We have enough water for everybody to use now for irrigation.  It is just that the dams have not been properly utilised.

"But we still have to contain most of our fresh water that is being discharged into the ocean every second, because in future it's going to be a problem of every nation in the world. The volume of water on earth is constant since its creation, but the population keeps growing. So the water available for each person keeps decreasing every second."

The director also said that attention was now being given to other parts of the country regarding the erection of dams. He noted that this was a new policy thrust of the government unlike the practice in the past when there was concentration of dams in the North. "Now the focus is to make water available for everybody. Basically, when we talk about water, drinking is the first thing. Water use by persons is the first thing you recognise before you go to other aspects such as irrigation, fishery and hydropower...."...

A 2012 NASA image of the lake formed by the Tiga dam in Nigeria

Lingering hardship after Nigeria floods

IRIN: Residents displaced by the 2012 deluge in Nigeria’s Kogi State have by now returned to their villages, where the lingering destruction and scarcity of food have increased hardship. But the struggle to recover has also inspired agricultural transformation.

The floods were the country’s worst in four decades. Some seven million people across Nigeria were affected in 2012. Kogi State, where the River Niger and the River Benue merge, was the most devastated, with around 1.3 million people affected, roads cut off and homes, farms and food stocks swept away.

The authorities say that the magnitude of the floods was unprecedented and long-term measures to ease the impact are costly and complicated. Nine out of 21 local government areas in Kogi State were badly affected by the floods, with the rural, low-lying locality of Ibaji being the hardest hit.

In the isolated villages of Ibaji, many houses are slanted from the force of the floodwater, and their mud walls have been washed away, exposing a mesh of sticks and poles. Others have completely collapsed, with the roofs sitting on the ground.

Farmers are struggling to improve food stocks amid complaints that government support has been meagre, while a flood warning last year discouraged farmers from large-scale cultivation...

Climatologist advises Nigerian coastal communities on flood control

AllAfrica.com via the Daily Trust (Nigeria):A climatologist, Prof. Temi Ologunorisa, on Tuesday urged coastal communities to evolve measures aimed at mitigating the effects of flooding in their communities. Ologunorisa told newsmen in Lagos that such measures would avert a recurrence of the 2012 devastating flood in coastal communities and some parts of the country.

"Any moment from now the rainy season will set in and many communities will be exposed to erosion and flood. In order to prevent a recurrence of the 2012 flood that ravaged many communities, coastal communities and those living in flood-prone areas should start preparing, to avoid emergencies.

"We must not wait till flood-related emergencies occur before acting and that is what we do in this part of the world."

Ologunorisa, who is the director of the Centre for Climate Change and Environment Research, Osun State University, Osogbo, said that there were signs of heavy rainfall this year. He advised those whose houses were built on flood plains beds to urgently begin to relocate to safer places.

The climatologist also urged those in coastal communities not to wait for the rains before clearing their drains....

West Africa hopes new hydropower dams will cut poverty, climate risk

Elias Ntungwe Ngalame at the Thomson Reuters Foundation: West African states in the Niger River Basin are seeking to tackle climate risks and reduce poverty by constructing three hydropower dams in the next five years. In late November, the Council of Ministers of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), meeting in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde, endorsed an environmental and climate action plan for sustainable management of the scenic basin and its rich natural resources, which have come under threat from climate change.

The projects include a 102 megawatt (MW) hydropower dam at Fomi in Guinea, a 25 MW hydropower plant in Toussa, Mali, and the 565 MW Kandadji dam in Niger. These aim to boost hydro-electricity and irrigation, reduce desertification and flooding, and improve economic activities across the region.

“The West African region is facing urgent problems of food security, rural poverty and climate change that demand answers in the form of investment and infrastructure. We need to give a push to these three multi-purpose hydropower dam projects as a sustainable solution that involves the region’s largest river,” NBA executive secretary Collins Ihekire said in a statement at the Yaounde gathering.

The NBA is the coordinating body for the 4,200 km-long (2,600-mile) Niger River, bringing together the governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

The NBA also agreed to rehabilitate three hydropower plants at Kainji, Jebda and Lagdo, as well as multiple run-of-river hydropower stations, optimise water storage, set up irrigation schemes for an additional 1 million hectares (2.5 million hectares) of land, and increase hydropower production to 1,000 gigawatt hours per day.

“Integrating future climate change adaptation and mitigation into our development action plan will enable...sustainable management of our water resources, to better the livelihood of the over 106 million population in the area,” said Emmanuel Nganou Djoumesi, Cameroon’s minister of the economy, planning and regional development, at the closing of the Yaounde meeting....

The Niger River from space

Lessons of 2012 inform Red Cross response as new floods hit Nigeria

David Fogden, IFRC, and Victoria Madamidola and Charles Eri, Nigerian Red Cross Society in a press release from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies:  Heavy seasonal rains have caused flooding across Nigeria, bringing further misery to a population which is still recovering from fatal floods in 2012, the worst floods the country had experienced in more than 40 years. According to the National Emergency Management Agency, more than 47,000 people have been affected. The states of Abia, Bauchi, Benue, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kano, Kogi and Zamfara have been hit particularly hard. In Kaduna and Katsina, the situation has been exacerbated by the collapse of earth dams.

The Nigerian Red Cross Society has completed assessments in the states of Bauchi, Kaduna, Kebbi and Zamfara to establish the needs of people who have been affected. “The floodwaters came and then went within 48 hours, causing many mud-brick homes to collapse, ruining families’ belongings,” explains Altilina Simon, Deputy Disaster Management Coordinator at the Nigerian Red Cross Society, who led the assessments.

“The population is also at risk of waterborne diseases, as the wells, which people depend on for drinking water, have been polluted by the floods. In some villages, there is a belief that putting frogs into wells will make the water safe to drink,” adds Simon. “To help correct such misconceptions, we have mobilized volunteers, who are trained in health and hygiene promotion, to pass on messages about how to properly clean water before use. They are also distributing water purification tablets.” Stagnant floodwater also provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which carry malaria.

Following the 2012 floods response, which was carried out with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the National Society is now better prepared to respond to the flooding that hits the country at this time of year, every year.

“The training Red Cross volunteers received during the floods last year is paying off, as they are again being called on to help respond to this year’s flooding,” says Simon. “Aside from health and hygiene promotion, we have also trained our volunteers on how to use the shelter kits, which they then teach to community members.” Volunteers are also helping with search and rescue, providing psychosocial support to help traumatized families work through what they have experienced, and helping to distribute relief supplies...

A submerged house in Makurdi town, Nigeria, in 2012, shot by Achakpa, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Nigeria's disaster agency sensitizes riverine areas on flood

Usman A. Bello in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Trust (Nigeria): The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has sensitized flood vulnerable communities in Kogi State on flood risks to reduce impact when it occur.

Speaking at the one day sensitization workshop, Coordinator of NEMA Abuja operating office, Ishaya Isah Chonoko said the need for sustained awareness across diverse interest groups in vulnerable communities informed the sensitization.

Chonoko who was represented by Slaku Lugard said the vulnerable communities needed to be aware of the risks they face and the steps they can take to reduce the risks.

Chonoko said the agency realized that when flooding occur, the affected people often use schools as camps which necessitated the provision of tents by NEMA for those that would be displaced especially Ibaji local government.

According to him, all actions to minimize the impact of flood hingeed on awareness by stakeholders and communities while ignorance of it encourages occupation of flood plain and abuse of town planning as well as failure to heed the warning of by relevant agencies to evacuate, thereby endangering lives...

Nigerian government advises residents to vacate flood-prone areas

Peter Duru in AllAfrica.com via Vanguard (Nigeria): With the noticeable rise in the water levels of River Benue, the state government has urge those living in flood-prone areas to vacate such areas to avert a looming disaster.

The government further cautioned those putting up structures at the river bank to desist in their own interest.

Benue State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Justin Amase, who sounded the warning while fielding questions from journalists in Makurdi, regretted that "despite repeated warnings, people were still putting up structures by the bank of River Benue.

He said: "Others have also gone back to live in homes that are located very close to the river against the advice of experts and the state government.

"People seem to be taking the predictions of another flooding of parts of the state for granted and have refused to adhere to the several warnings and advise of government of an impending flooding of the state...."

The River Benue looking south east from Jimeta/Yola. Shot by Leigh g bowden, public domain

Nigeria may lose US $460 billion to climate change by 2020

Adebiyi Adedapo in AllAfrica.com via This Day (Nigeria): The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, yesterday said Nigeria's economy rans the risk of losing between $100 billion to $460 billion to climate change by 2020. The minister said this in Abuja at the inauguration of an Advisory Committee on Agricultural Resilience in Nigeria (ACARN).

He noted that although Africa contributes very little to the green house emissions, the negative impact of climate change on the continent would be enormous. The minister added that Nigeria might have Gross, Domestic Product (GDP) loss of between two per cent and 11 per cent.

"We contribute very little to global green house emissions but Africa will have to bear the brunt of most of the impacts of climate change. If you look at it, in Nigeria, estimate shows that we could have a GDP loss of between two per cent to 11 per cent as a result of climate change and by 2020, we could be losing anything between $100 billion to $460 billion on the impact of our economy from climate change," he said.

Adesina said it was very important for the advisory committee to assist Nigeria to brainstorm on policies, technologies, and institutions that would ensure resilience of the country's agricultural system to climate change. He observed that the current agricultural systems in the country, which evolved over the time, were not enough to adapt to this particular circumstance of changes around farmers.

Adesina however, called for an urgent need for Nigeria to develop better agricultural systems which would be more resilient and robust to allow farmers adapt to the impact the climate change would have on them....

Nigerian floods return with fury, spread to new areas

AllAfrica.com via the Daily Trust (Nigeria): Like last year, flood is back causing nightmare in some parts of the Nigeria as several communities and villages have been completely washed away or submerged by terrible floods in the last one week.

For Nigerians, flooding has become an endless nightmare in most communities. The latest floods have left in its trail deaths, sorrows, massive destruction of property and farmlands as well as displacement of people in the affected areas.

Investigations indicate that several houses were submerged by floods in Kaduna last Wednesday, following a heavy rain, which lasted for hours, precisely from Tuesday night to Wednesday noon.

Executive Secretary of Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Ishaku Dogo Makama said on-the-spot assessment conducted by officials of the agency revealed that seven persons were drowned in a river at Galadima village in Giwa LGA of the state.

...Some of the affected communities include Romi, Karatudu, Gonin Gora, Ungwar Juji, U/Pama, U/Yelwa, U/Barde, Hayin Katapawa, Trikania, Sabo, Ungwar Boro, Narayi, Bayan-Dutse and Kamazou among others in Chikun Local Government Area. Also the 10 LGAs affected by the flood include Jema'a, Sanga, Kagarko, Chikun, Birnin-Gwari, Igabi, Kubau, Giwa, Kaduna South and Kachia....

Nigeria advises flood plains dwellers to evacuate

AllAfrica.com via the Daily Trust (Nigeria): The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, has advised Nigerians to evacuate flood plains, clear drains and dismantle structures on water ways, to curtail the effects of flood.

Ochekpe gave the advice on Friday in Abuja at the interactive session on the 'Flood Warning' in respect of the Kainji and Jebba Dam areas in Niger.

"The government does not want any Nigerian to suffer the effect of flood but Nigerians should help the government by doing what is right, particularly those in the Jebba and Kainji areas.

"And those in the city, should clear their drains and dismantle buildings on water ways to as much as possible, enable us to curtail floods that will come.

"Every one has a role to play in curtailing whatever challenges the climate is posing presently and those that have wandered into flood plains should please leave....

Floods test Nigeria’s preparedness

IRIN: Heavy rains have unleashed floods in parts of Nigeria, testing the country’s emergency preparedness one year after its worst flooding in decades. Some 35,000 people have been affected, most of them in five states, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The 2012 floods affected around 7 million people.

According to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), this year’s floods have displaced some 600 people and caused one fatality in the northern Kano State, and about 20 bodies were unearthed at a cemetery in the state’s Yan Kaba area. In Katsina State, also in the north, 55 farms were inundated by heavy rains.

NEMA spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said early warning and rapid relocation of communities helped prevent greater loss of lives.

Forty communities in flood-prone areas in southeastern Benue State have been relocated by authorities, who have also urged people in other vulnerable areas to move. Farinloye said the Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states in the northeast were flashpoints.

“We have been able to contain any adverse humanitarian effects. All the affected states have been able to respond adequately. So far the response has been positive, but we cannot say we have a perfect system,” Farinloye told IRIN....

Nigerian state government relocates village over flood

Yusha'u A. Ibrahim in the AllAfrica.com via the Daily Trust (Nigeria):  The Katsina State government has relocated Tudun Yan-Tuluna village in Charanchi Local Government Area of the state to save the people from flood.

Caretaker chairman of Charanchi Local Government Area, Alhaji Yahaya Galadima, said over 500 people in the area have been relocated to a new settlement named after the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema. He said the settlement is known as "Sabon Garin Shema".

Galadima, who was in the area to pay compensation to the people whose farmlands were acquired for the relocation exercise, said people of Yan Tuluna village lost all their 78 houses to flood which occurred in the area two weeks ago.

He said though no life was lost and nobody was injured by the disaster, the people lost foodstuff, livestock and household items worth millions of naira.

He said after the incident, the local government relocated the people to a temporary camp in Kartaka Primary School and was providing food, water and medication for them before they were finally relocated to a permanent settlement in Sabon-Garin Shema....

Locator map of Katsina in Nigeria, by PhilFree, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license