A CLIMATE expert, Olumide Idowu, has highlighted some factors responsible for flooding in Nigeria.
Idowu, who’s the founder/CEO International Climate Change Development Initiative said a lot of communities and citizens are facing the impact of climate change and flood risk in the country as a result of negligence on the part of government and residents.
He disclosed this on Wednesday, April 26, during a Twitter Space on the theme: ‘Flooding: Analysing Nigerian Government Preparedness’, organised by The ICIR.
“The issue of climate change is just a statement that helps us to understand that the weather or the climate is changing, then the flood aspect of it is the impact climate change is causing . And if you look critically, the only trend notable remains the amount of precipitation, changing rainfall patterns – which leads to more intense and frequent flooding.
“This actually depends on the duration, intensity, frequency, fluctuations and rainfall but the bottom line here is where there’s conversation on climate change then we start talking about what are the impacts and the effects.
“Another attribute that we need to look at is the trend in the global rise of temperature which has also led to sea level rise which we see in the South-West of Nigeria.”
Idowu attributed the causes of flooding to urbanisation, water engineering, improper waste disposal and unauthorised construction of waterways in the country.
According to him, roads and major cities lack the right drainage, a situation which he blamed on government negligence.
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He added: “It’s also very important that we also talk about an uncoordinated town planning outlook because when you look at the risk impacts and look at how people are preparing, there’s a need for planning. So the major thing among them is the drainage system. And many roads in major cities lack the right drainage capacity because of citizen impact or the government impact which has resorted to a lot of overflow and that’s why you see a lot of overflow from the sea level through the community that’s closer to the seaport.”
Idowu also noted that Nigeria needs to build capacity to contain the flow of water, adding that the kind of drainages in some flood probe areas are not adequate.
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“It’s also very important to note that no matter how you push those water, they will find a way back. In some parts of Nigeria the drainage channels remain waterlogged because a lot of land has been used to build houses even the normal pathway for drainage systems has been taken away and this tells us a story of collective negligence from the people and from the government.”
Speaking on indiscriminate disposal of waste, he explained that it is one of the activities that contributes to blocked drainage systems in the country.
He also said that the government’s failure to pay attention to some activities in many communities is another major factor that contributes to flooding.
“When people see that rain is coming, they put their waste into the drainage system and that’s why you see a blockage of drainage system and you see all these developers building houses everywhere and in small places causing a lot of havoc to the people,” he added.
