By Ayo Oyoze Baje
“The time to start taking concrete, pro-active measures is now. Not tomorrow. Not when the dams have overflowed their capacity and the rivers have swelled their banks, swallowing up the pothole-riddled roads, homes, offices and shops. Not when casualty figures have risen to thousands before half-hearted, panicky measures are embarked upon by top government officials” – Ayo Oyoze Baje (‘The Rage of floods’, opinion essay published in 2013)
Nowhere To Run is the title of the mind-riveting, thought-provoking and
multiple-award-winning film, as part of the noble and patriotic efforts of the
Shehu Musa Yar’Ardua Foundation.
Meant to sensitize the public on the deleterious effects of global
warming, it was screened to a jam-packed audience, made up of the management,
staff and students, at the multi-purpose hall of Bells University of
Technology, Ota, Ogun state, on 24th November 2016. That was some six years
ago.
How apt! How timely and thematically relevant the film by the
Foundation has proved, more so considered against the dark background of the
current devastating floods in the country. For instance, more than 600
Nigerians have been confirmed to have died as a result of the floods in two
months.
About 1.3 million people have been displaced. And more than
200,000 homes have been destroyed in the worst flooding the country has
witnessed in over a decade. So, as the film rightly noted, hundreds of
thousands of Nigerians have currently nowhere to run!
The
painful aspect of it all is that the earlier warning signals given by the
Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) were dismissed with a wave of the hand
by many citizens as well as their state governments. All because we have
refused to learn from the hands of history, the ugly decimal keeps recurring,
and worsening by the day from 2008, through 2012, 2018 till the moment.
How
terribly sad!
As previously highlighted by yours truly, the menace of flood has become a
global phenomenon and challenge. From China through India to Indonesia,
Malaysia, European countries and the United States, flooding shoots its ugly
head in the twinkle of an eye. The difference, however, is that in those listed
countries there are more proactive, prompt and practical mechanisms for
stemming the tide of flood on the part of their Emergency Management teams, to
assist the victims. But it is a far cry from that here in Nigeria. Now, a scary
scenario of food insecurity caused by the floods looms at our doorstep.
For instance, it would be recalled that in November 2008 the
United Nation’s sponsored Summit on Sustainable Development held in
Johannesburg, South Africa gave the warning that within a few years Nigeria
would be amongst the 14 countries listed as vulnerable to food insecurity
courtesy of climate change, including the flood menace. But our political
helmsmen took it with a pinch of salt.
In fact, during the 2021 flood outlook presentation, the Nigeria
Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) made public the vital information that 28
states, including the FCT, were most likely to experience flooding in the year.
In
a similar vein, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NMA) stated that the signals
monitored by the agency in the last seven years show that things are changing
on the climate front and that Nigeria was expected to experience unprecedented
heavy downpours. That came in its 2021 Seasonal Climate Forecast.
But it was not taken seriously.
So, on 20th October 2020, the Nigeria Red Cross had to meet the
emergency needs of 12,000 people (2,000 households) affected by floods in the
five states namely Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Sokoto and Zamfara. According to
Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) the food security emergency
worsened in areas of the Northeastern part of Nigeria as access to food was
further constrained.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM),
over 20,000 were displaced between late July and mid-August 2018, in the
Northwest and North-Central States. The death toll rose to 52, with 90 houses
destroyed, over 260 livestock confirmed dead and several people declared
missing. Property worth millions of naira was destroyed as flood wreaked havoc
in 10 communities of Jibia Local Government area of Katsina state.
Before
then the sweeping tide of the devastating flood claimed 12 lives and
overwhelmed 3,800 houses in Ogun State. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo promised
then that the Federal Government, along with the two states will look into the
root causes of the flash flood with a view to providing a lasting solution so
that such an incident does not happen again! But as usual, we must have heard
this swansong years before, haven’t we? That is Nigeria for you.
That was in 2018. As usual, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency
(NMA) warned that many parts of the country were likely to experience flooding.
According to the Director-General, Prof. Sani Mashi, this was due to a shift in
rainfall patterns caused by climate change. Back then, yours truly advised that
the main political actors should put their 2019 ambitions on the back burner
and prepare for the climatic onslaught. But did they?
Currently, in 2022, as another pre-election year, some 27 out of
the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) are affected by the flood
disaster. These include Adamawa, Anambra, Gombe, Jigawa, parts of Kaduna, Kogi,
Niger, Delta, Benue, Nasarawa and Bayelsa, to name but a few. There, farmers
suffered huge losses, of plantations and livestock while some even lost their
precious lives.
Unfortunately,
we – both the leaders and the led majority- have refused to learn from history.
So, we keep grappling with the sweeping floods. But the questions remain: What
have some state governors done with the huge ecological funds collected? Why do
we, as Nigerians turn deaf ears to the warning signals given by NiMeT, NIHSA
and NMA every blessed year? How prepared are members of the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) to deal with flood-related emergency situations in the
country? Why do some political leaders refuse to take responsibility for their
gross failures but exhibit great pleasure in blaming others, including God for
not taking preventive measures when due?
As the Vice Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Ota,
Prof. Jeremiah Ojediran rightly noted back in 2016, Nigerians need to key into
the Climate Change-themed film project of the Yar’Ardua Foundation, with a
commitment to environmental protection, good governance and a democratic
society for all Nigerians.
Similarly, Nigerians should shift focus to finding lasting
solutions to the worsening environmental disaster. With Nigeria’s population
expected to rise to 250 million by 2050, the awareness created by the film
should be extended right to the grassroots. Their activities such as tree felling,
over-cultivation and bush burning, come out of extreme poverty which needs to
be addressed
No effort should, therefore, be spared by various governments,
their related Agencies, the private sector and concerned individuals to
enlighten the public and more so, put in motion pragmatic measures to mitigate
the scourge of climate change on man. A stitch in time would save nine.
*Baje, President of Guild of Public Affairs Analysts (GPAN), is a commentator on public issues
