Flooding had a number of negative consequences, including untold lives lost and damage to buildings and other infrastructure in most sections of the country. Sewerage systems, multi-billion-naira roadway pavement, bridges, canals, and other structures are all affected by flooding, as are water-borne diseases. Giardia, cholera (which kills a lot of people), typhoid, cryptosporidium, and other diseases are still prevalent in our communities.
Flooding ruins enormous farm lands, rendering them unusable, and prevents crops from being gathered at the appropriate time, resulting in food shortages and exacerbating the current inflation, which is causing misery for the typical Nigerian on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, floods have a detrimental impact on not just humans, but also animals, who are occasionally submerged and drown.
Damage to power generation facilities, such as power transformers, has been reported, resulting in power outages in several sections of the country on many occasions. It also pollutes water for both domestic and industrial usage, as well as having an economic impact.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had previously warned that flash floods might occur in various sections of Nigeria. The fact that some areas of Nigeria are inherently prone to floods is well recognized to the majority of Nigerians. Certain measures, in my opinion, should be adopted as soon as possible to alleviate people’s suffering. We must not continue to allow floods to destabilise our people’s well-being.
The geometry of the flow channel, particularly the depth of the channel, the speed of the flow, and the number of sediments in it, all influence the elevation of flowing water. Water elevation above flow channel constraints, such as bridges and canyons, tends to be controlled. With changing water elevation, the actual control point for any given reach of the drainage may change, so a closer point may control for lower water levels until a more distant point controls for higher water levels is achieved.
It’s necessary to properly utilise the ecological fund, which is an intervention fund by the federal government to address the multifarious ecological challenges in various communities across the country.
Government must ensure prime objective of its initiative is achieved, by judiciously funding ecological projects to ameliorate serious ecological problems nationwide. By so doing, flooding can be reduced to minimum level in our country.
Tijjani writes from Azare, Bauchi State.
