Again, the season of debilitating flooding is here across the globe. In Nigeria, the worst hit are the coastal states. However, none of the six geo-political zones is spared as the heavens opened up, causing heavy rainstorms even in the remote northern regions already devastated by desertification.In Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, the death toll has risen to over 50 with 320 families reportedly displaced. In Ibadan, a downpour which lasted for many hours resulted in a flood disaster. Roads became impassable and some bridges were submerged making them practically impassable and while almost 10 have reportedly died with about four corpses recovered from the Dandaru River. The situation in Ibadan would have been worse but for the proactive measures taken by the government late last year. In far away China, floods ravaged Chinese cities with the death toll rising to 77 in Beijing as at 26 July, 2012. The amazing thing about the China floods were pitiful pictures of flooded residents' bedrooms and heavy buses and trucks being washed away. It is unfortunate that the nation has been experiencing flood disasters annually without any solutions seemingly in sight. In 2001, torrential rainfall swept through the North-Central states, causing heavy flooding in Kano, Jigawa and Zamfara states. The unprecedented deluge drowned many livestock and destroyed crops. Thousands of people were rendered homeless. In 1988, more than 300,000 people were displaced by flooding in Kano State alone. In 1999, more than 200,000 people were displaced by flooding in Niger State. It was reported that two -thirds of Bayelsa State and half of Delta State were inundated by devastating floods for at least a quarter of the year 2001. Like other disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, tremors, landslides and other ecological problems, there is the need to anticipate and handle these recurrent emergencies, especially now that they have become almost seasonal.According to experts, human induced changes in earth's atmosphere and oceans have made the planet a dangerous place to live in by contributing to more frequent and severe natural disasters. It has been predicted that extreme events which can be traced to climate change will have increasingly grave consequences in the future. In accordance with the precautionary principle, Nigerians would be well-advised to prepare for dramatic changes.We call on state governments to, as a matter of utmost urgency, remove structures on waterways. We also urge the government to intensify actions on the massive dredging of rivers and streams, as well as construction of bridges across the state to ameliorate the situation.Precautionary and pro-active measures are recommended for all tiers of government parastatal agencies and residents. Measures should be devised to apprehend and sanction residents that dump wastes on waterways. We recall that it was the massive obstruction of Ogunpa River in Ibadan that caused the 1980 unprecedented flood disaster in Ibadan in which many lives were lost and property worth millions of naira washed away. The disaster brought the then President Shehu Shagari to Ibadan where he donated one million naira on behalf of the Federal Government at a time when the naira had a high value.Recently, a governor commissioned a bridge with the usual pomp and pageantry. Few days later, the rains came and washed the same bridge away! Contractors of sub-standard projects like this ought to be arrested and sanctioned. It leaves much to be desired that in 2012, there are instances of illiterate people propitiating 'water goddess' that causes flooding even as people continue to dump massive wastes on the waterways. It is also unfortunate that massive flooding, resulting from a deluge that lasted several days are hardly predicted by meterological experts- a serious indictment of Nigeria's technological and scientific claims in the country. All over the world, science and technology have advanced to the level that the timing, volume and character of rains are largely predictable and always foretold by meteorologists and other weather experts. Nigeria cannot be an exception. We call on the authorities at the three tiers of government to continue to put much premium on waste disposal in the cities. Residents themselves should make use of the waste bins while efforts should be made to evacuate these bins on a regular basis, not only on days earmarked for environmental sanitation. In the present circumstance, all outstanding drainage works should be completed without further delay to ameliorate the consequences of these debilitating flood disasters.
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