Last Monday, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) gave a scary forecast of rainfall that could cause massive flooding in 20 of the 36 states in the country. The flooding will be severe, according to NiMeT and has suggested that people living in flood-prone areas or close to rivers/low areas should relocate to high grounds. Considering the recent flood tragedy in Texas, United States, Nigerians must try and avoid the impending danger envisaged by NiMet. In Texas, a flash flood warning was issued about three hours before the peak of the flooding. But many people were not prepared for the deluge of seven months’ worth of rain in less than two hours. As of yesterday, no fewer 121 people were confirmed dead, but the number of fatalities continues to rise, along with an active search for about 160 people who are still missing. “Nobody can believe it—that much water, that fast,” said President Donald Trump who visited Texas last Friday.

 Back home, the warning by NiMet is timely. But questions remain as to whether those responsible for mitigation and adaptation activities have plans that are actionable ahead of the expected flood. This is therefore the right time for authorities to intervene, according to the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey. “Floods threaten lives, infrastructure and livelihoods. This is the time for investment in planning of communities and towns in flood prone areas,” Bassey said. “They require emergency shelters and climate-proof housing, roads and other infrastructure.” The need for drainage planning of our cities and provision of adequate drainage systems cannot be overemphasized.

As we have repeatedly highlighted, flooding does enormous damage to the ecosystem and destroys public utilities. It also elevates the risk of hunger and malnutrition because of disruption of farmlands and commercial losses for farmers engaged in subsistence farming. But perhaps most significant is that we have lost thousands of people to flooding in the past decade while millions remain displaced. With its urbanisation rate put at 5.5 per cent yearly and considered one of the highest in the world, the number of Nigerians at risk or vulnerable to flood hazards is high.  In the flood of 2012, no fewer than 665 people died while the World Bank estimated losses at about $6.7 billion. More than three million people were displaced across the country.

In 1981, the Ecological Fund was established to have a pool of funds that would help mitigate natural disasters like flooding.  The fund originally constituted one per cent of the Federation Account but was reviewed upward to two per cent in 1992. Unfortunately, the management of the fund has been marred with controversy, essentially due to the discretionary powers given to the president in the disbursement. Such is the abuse of the Ecology Fund that officials of both the federal and state governments now see it essentially as a slush fund to be deployed for all manner of things. For instance, the former Governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, disclosed in 2006 that he diverted his state’s N1.6 billion share of the Ecological Fund to the 2003 general elections campaign of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

 At a period when the forces of nature are raging, and Nigeria seems to be at the mercy of the environment, it is imperative that the Ecological Fund be deployed strictly to tackle such challenges. But in the immediate, we implore all the relevant authorities to prepare for the rains with great diligence. Individuals and groups living on flood plains should be evacuated or made to stay away from the potential dangers of their places of abode. The focus should be on prevention and pre-emptive intervention because little is gained when resources that should be put into developmental initiatives are dissipated in dealing with avoidable emergencies and calamities.