By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
Photo credit:Twitter.
Participants at the three-day, First International Conference International Conference with the theme:" Flood and Sustainable Development" have called on the government and other stakeholders to channel efforts and resources towards preventive measures to avert flood disaster rather than providing relief only after it has happened.
Our correspondent reports that the conference was organized by the federal University, Lokoja(FUL) with a cross-section of stakeholders in attendance as part of its efforts in finding a lasting solution to the devastating floods that hit Lokoja, Kogi state, and many other states in Nigeria in 2012 and another one in 2022.
They made the call in their communique signed by the Chairman of, Local Organising Committee for the conference, Prof.Muhammed Suleiman Audu, and the Secretary, Dr. Joseph Olaniyi Folorunsho and a copy made available to The Reporters in Lokoja on Friday.
After extensive intellectual discourses, the communique observed and submitted that: "Flooding as a phenomenon had had a devastating effect on human population and there is the need to mitigate this effect by bringing together the town and the gown for a collaborative effort in tackling this disaster.
"The strategic importance of the confluence of the Niger-Benue Rivers in this perennial flooding and the forum has provided the avenue for gaining a better understanding of the ecological and environmental factors that contribute to floods in the Niger-Benue trough;
"That flood is inevitable in human society because of natural and anthropogenic factors but measures must be put in place to tackle its effects on humans and the environment."
Participants at the international conference.
The stakeholders also called on relevant government agencies to synergize to proffer lasting solutions to the problem of flood in the region and its environs - a good instance being NIHSA’s efforts at producing an Annual Flood Outlook to manage flood
According to them, since flooding is universal, reflecting the broader challenges posed by climate change, there is, therefore the need for deliberate efforts to adopt a multi-pronged approach, through investment in resilient infrastructure such as building and maintaining robust drainage systems, creation of reservoirs, flood barriers, divergent structures and implementing sustainable urban planning practices.
The communique added that flooding had negatively impacted communities in the Niger-Benue, exemplified by the loss of human life, damage to properties, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, non-functioning of infrastructure, and deterioration of health conditions owing to water-borne diseases.
The communique identified the effect of flooding to include other socio-economic impacts of flood such as decreased purchasing and production power, mass migration, psycho-sociological effect, limited economic growth and development, and low political participation, discontent, or loss of trust in authorities leading to social unrest.
The stakeholders urged that floods in communities along the Niger-Benue Trough could be controlled through the construction of floodways (man-made channels) to divert flood water, regular dredging of the inland waterways, channels, and rivers, construction of levees and dykes, sensitization, raising of roads to reduce run-offs and prevent water being diverted to homes at lower elevations and clearing of drainage;
"Nigeria needs to have a development plan that adequately provides for flood disaster management.
"The challenges of flood risk in the Niger-Benue Trough and Nigeria are a result of inadequate flood control structures as the existing ones are either too old and weak to perform maximally – aging dams, inadequate dam monitoring and maintenance, lack of flood risk awareness, inadequate solid waste, sewage, drainage, and flood zone management; no integrated water resources planning at national and state level;
"There is a need for improvement in collecting, assessing, and sharing environmental and climatic data for planning, policy, and investment purpose, including better coordination between MDAs;
"There is a need to ensure community participation in planning, implementation, and monitoring of disaster preparedness activities- development of effective early warning on floods and dam water releases and a good knowledge of hydro-meteorological parameters are germane to any flood management strategies in the Niger-Benue Trough;
"There is the need to build the capacity of communities and invest in institutions saddled with the responsibility of flood prevention, control, and management;
"There is a need to begin to build climate-smart infrastructure that is durable and sustainable such as dams, drainage and roads, review of the existing land use laws and an urgent need for preparation of a flood sensitive master plan.
"Land use planning should move beyond relying on national elements and incorporate a combination of structural and non-structural measures to reduce flood," they also advised.
The communique noted that media literacy played a critical role in enabling individuals to critically evaluate and interpret flood-related information, to ensure a more informed understanding of risk and promote responsible decision-making," there should be incorporation of media education into existing disaster preparedness plans.
The participants resolved that FUL, given its strategic location and willpower, shall establish a center for flood prevention and management in Nigeria charged with the responsibility of leading innovation and intellectualism in the area of flood research.
They, therefore, called on the Federal Government to make or enhance annual budgetary provisions for flood control and management, to avert perennial flood disasters in the confluence city of Lokoja and other flood-prone areas.
The conference had 50 paper presentations by scholars and researchers across the globe with two lead papers presented by Professor Jimmy O. Adegoke of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri -Kansas City, USA, and Professor Temi Ologunrisa, the Vice-Chancellor, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitikupa, Ondo State.
Our correspondent recalls that no fewer the 363 persons lost their lives in the 2022 floods, thousands of others became homeless, and several hectares of farmlands and property worth billions of naira were destroyed during the 2022 flood that ravaged more than half of the local governments in Kogi state and many states of the federation.
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