Floods lead to tremendous losses of property, infrastructure, business and increased risk of diseases. Floods are also the most frequent natural disasters, affecting over 2.8 billion people in the world and causing over 200,000 deaths over the past three decades.

Floods are naturally caused by rise in temperature resulting in heavy downpours of rain, glacier melt and thermal expansion of the ocean, subsequently causing a rise in sea levels and inundation of coastal lands.

In Nigeria, though not leading in terms of claiming lives, flood affects and displaces more people than any other disaster; it also causes more damage to properties. Flood disaster has been perilous to people, communities and institutions. It has shattered both the built-environment and undeveloped plan. It has claimed many lives, and millions of properties got lost due to its occurrences.

One prominent feature about flooding is that it  does not discriminate, but marginalized whosoever refuses to prepare for its reoccurrence. From experience, flood also exposes residents to an impending cholera, diarrhea, malaria, skin infections and other water-borne diseases epidemic.

Kogi state the 'Confluence of Opportunities' is currently going through a sad moment occasioned by massive flooding. At the moment, nine out of twenty one local governments in Kogi state are seriously battling with uncomfortable situations caused by the flood.

It was reported that another round of flood disaster is gradually creeping into Lokoja, the state capital as the water levels have risen to 40 metres and already flowing into some homes.

The palpable fear is in line with the fact that the rise in water level, this time around, has coincided with the same period in 2012, when water level rose to an extent that the flood disaster that caused untold hardship and loss of property worth billions of naira for residents in the state.

So far, the local governments in Kogi state affected are; Bassa, Lokoja, Kogi, Omala, Idah, Ibaji, Dekina, Ofu and Igalamela-Odolu. At a recent stakeholders meeting organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in partnership with the Kogi State Emergency Management Agency (KOSEMA), it was revealed that floods from River Niger have submerged over 70 communities and displaced over 50,000 people displaced from their houses in different parts of the state.

Sadly, Ibaji local government area is the worst hit by the flood. Thousands of residents have been sacked from their houses in the area and all the 26 schools in the council have been converted to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. 

Also, residents of about twenty one communities in Lokoja local government area have relocated to neighbouring Niger state. These communities include; Eggan, Twaki, Kinami, Lagan, Buzhi, Ebwa, Miza, Ebbe, Dambo, Twanawa, Taraba, Taji, Doji, Compala, Edo, Lanbata, Budon, Gori, Budon Tsofo, Ashe and Arra.

Kogi state, most especially Lokoja city, are susceptible to flooding and this is because of building of houses on flood plains, inadequate drainage of storm water, lack of maintenance of existing drainage systems, increased run-off because of uncontrolled expansions of impermeable surfaces and weak institutional capacity.

No doubt, the continuous ravaging flood has put many Kogites into untold hardship which those in the coastal communities are grossly affected while the relief materials are not seen to be provided by the concern authorities.

Since the upsurge of the flood challenge, economic activities have been totally grounded without immediate solutions to it. Even some of the highland communities are gradually taken by the flood.

Flood, a natural disaster, cannot be entirely avoided; however, the losses and damages occurring due to flood and other weather-related events can be prevented by proper flood mitigation planning.

Flood Risk Management (FRM) is the best way to go. FRM comprises measures aimed at reducing the likelihood and impact of floods. It encompasses the prediction of flood hazards, socio-economic factors and consequences, and measures/tools for risk reduction.

It is not a static approach but adapts to changing circumstances. The adoption of a particular flood risk management strategy is influenced by numerous factors from environmental (geographical features of an area and the type of flood risk an area is prone to) to socio-economic factors and can include both structural and non-structural measures.

Historically, Nigeria has been more focused on post-disaster flood response than control. Reducing and addressing exposure to flood risk is now a national priority in the Nigerian government’s disaster risk management agenda. A national framework, now in place, aims at moving reactive flood response and recovery to pro-active risk management, however, nothing concrete has been done and a national FRM strategy to ensure harmonization of practice is still not in place.

This is not encouraging despite the comprehensive post-disaster needs assessment conducted in 2012 by the federal government with international collaboration. This raises questions on the political will to achieve this goal.

Funds are readily released post-floods but not pre-floods to avert it. Inadequate attention has been paid to flood control and management on a nationwide level and efforts aimed at addressing the challenge have lacked proper coordination and therefore, failed. Despite evidence of flood interventions in the past, the lack of an integrated FRM practice means that sub-optimal solutions are adopted and in numerous cases, more problems are created in the process.

As such, it’s necessary to have a proper estimation of flood extent for the different flow conditions so that proper flood evacuation and disaster management plan can be prepared in advance.

Careful examination and research from flood areas clearly indicate that heavy rainfall, blocked and/or failure of drainage systems, and lack of land use planning are considered the most frequent reasons for flooding.

Furthermore, investigations into the disaster revealed the adverse implications of flood on local community lifestyle and social relationships, namely property damage, loss of lives, community displacement and mental health issues.

A United Nations report on the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, suggests that to reduce the effects of these floods, it is crucial that a sound flood management policy is formulated. One which is driven by knowledge of the frequency and magnitude of impacts of these floods.

More than ever, plans and efforts must be undertaken to break the current event-disaster cycle, even as there is the need for decision makers to adopt holistic approaches for flood disaster management, the report concluded.

On a global scale, the number of people affected, alongside economic damages resulting from flooding are rising at an alarming rate, and society must shift from the current paradigm of post-disaster response to proactive mitigation planning.

Conclusively, Kogi State needs a contingency plan in the form of four phases of managing disaster – prevention; preparedness; response; and recovery – that can cater for a very high population. More focus should be placed on the disaster preparedness of the urban poor communities. Market men and women, schoolchildren, the illiterate and literate alike should be continually trained on flood disaster risks to build their little awareness.

The government should accord free medical care to flood victims, especially psychological care for post-traumatic incidences.

Flood control strategies should be regularly updated by the government. There should also be regular inspection on adherence to land policies by the Ministry of Lands and Environment, which will put land owners in check on encroachment into wetlands and other restricted areas.