Nigeria’s Annual Flood Crisis: Time To Move From Relief To Resilience.

_By Husseini Abubakar_

Climate change is no longer a distant warning for Nigeria. It is a lived reality. Across the country, and most severely in communities along the Rivers Niger and Benue and in coastal states, the consequences arrive every rainy season with predictable devastation.

Thousands of Nigerians are rendered homeless. Entire farmlands are washed away. Livelihoods built over decades disappear in a single night. The floods do not discriminate by region, class, or political affiliation.

This environmental crisis is compounded by another: insecurity. Families displaced by water often run straight into hunger, poverty, and unsafe camps. A child who loses a home to flood should not also lose a future to instability.

Despite years of intervention, Nigeria’s mitigation efforts have not matched the scale of the problem. The gap is not only technical. It is political. It is institutional. It is also moral — rooted in weak political will and corruption that diverts resources meant for public safety.

History provides important context. For decades Nigeria and Cameroon have discussed the threat posed by the *40-metre high Lagdo Dam* on the River Benue in northern Cameroon. An Environmental Impact Assessment recommended Nigeria build a *buffer dam at Dasin Hausa in Adamawa State* to trap and regulate excess water released from Lagdo.,

That agreement remains largely unimplemented. While Cameroon manages its side of Lagdo, Nigeria has not built the Dasin Hausa Dam. Each August and September, when Cameroon is compelled to release water due to peak rains around Garoua, Nigeria bears the brunt downstream in Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, and beyond. There have also been complaints of late notification. In 2019, the Director-General of NIHSA stated that notification of Lagdo’s release came about 7 days after the dam was opened.

An unkept agreement is like a leaking roof. You can keep placing buckets, but the structure continues to decay. That buffer dam represents the roof millions of people living along the Benue have been waiting for. As stakeholders have repeatedly warned: without both dredging and the buffer dam, perennial flooding will continue.

There is also the unfinished story of dredging. The quest to dredge the Lower River Niger predates independence. A major breakthrough came under the late *President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua*. On December 1, 2008, he signed a *N34.8 billion contract* for the project and inaugurated it on September 10, 2009 in Lokoja with a 3-year completion plan. The goal was to enable all-year navigation from Warri to Baro and create more channel capacity for water flow.

In 2011, under President Jonathan, the Federal Executive Council reviewed the contract upward by N8.5 billion, bringing the total to *N43.3 billion*. For the River Benue, contracts have been awarded multiple times, but execution has stalled.

In November 2023, the Senate announced that dredging of both *River Niger and River Benue* had been captured in the proposed 2024 appropriation bill as part of measures to combat recurring flooding from Lagdo Dam. The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation also inaugurated committees to work on modalities and assess feasibility.

Beyond natural factors, human behavior is worsening the crisis. Drainages are blocked with refuse. Buildings spring up on water channels. Canals are turned into dumpsites. When rain falls, the water has no path except into homes and markets.

This is why a renewed national focus is needed under President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s administration. Climate adaptation cannot be treated as an afterthought. It must be central to planning, budgeting, and execution.

Government has the capacity to build more strategic dams on the Rivers Niger and Benue. The current administration has reaffirmed commitment to the study and design of the *Dasin Hausa Dam* and upgrades to dams like *Kashimbila* and *Dura* as part of flood control measures. Approval is important, but execution with monitoring is everything.

A dam functions like a national savings account for water. In dry seasons, it supports irrigation, power, and drinking water. In wet seasons, it protects communities from overflow. Without it, the country remains in a cycle of panic and emergency spending.

Drainages, canals, and water channels must be reclassified as critical infrastructure. They require proper mapping, quarterly maintenance, and legal protection. Engineering plans mean little if citizens and local authorities allow them to be clogged.

Early warning institutions such as NIMET, NIHSA, and NEMA, alongside state emergency agencies, must be strengthened. Flood alerts should reach a farmer in Idah or Ibaji and a fisherman in Brass with the same speed they reach government offices in Abuja. Information without action, however, is useless.

Non-governmental organizations, traditional rulers, and community leaders must be integrated into the response. People trust local voices. When a district head or community leader says “move to higher ground,” compliance is faster than with a paper circular.

Nature-based solutions must also be scaled. Planting economic trees along riverbanks, restoring degraded land, and protecting wetlands work like the body’s immune system — they absorb excess water and prevent erosion. The World Bank-backed ACReSAL project is already delivering results in some states. That model should be expanded nationwide.

Corruption remains the biggest threat to climate resilience. When funds for desilting, dam maintenance, or relief disappear, the next flood exposes the failure. Transparency mechanisms, public dashboards, and civil society oversight are necessary to protect every naira spent.

Nigeria can be likened to a boat in a storm. Climate change is the storm. Corruption is the hole in the hull. Insecurity is the strong wind. Prayers alone will not keep the boat afloat. The hole must be patched, the course must be corrected, and everyone must bail water together.

Nigerians have shown remarkable resilience. Communities rebuild after every disaster. But resilience without structural support turns into exhaustion. The role of government is to reduce how often citizens have to start over.

Three urgent actions stand out.

*First*, fast-track the *Dasin Hausa buffer dam* with Cameroon and commence complementary projects with clear timelines and accountability.

*Second*, launch a coordinated national program for drainage clearing and river dredging in partnership with states and LGAs.

*Third*, establish a public portal to track all climate mitigation projects and spending.

Water will always seek its level. The only choice before Nigeria is whether to give it proper channels, or allow it to choose our homes, farms, and roads for us.

The time to act is not after the next flooding.

Hassan Abubakar- Editor.