I was dumbfounded as the image of the man came on TV. I can’t remember his name now, but the taxi driver was one of the beleaguered victims of the floods that threatened to submerge Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Friday, July 27. A 17-hour torrential rainfall had pounded the rocky city from the small hours of Thursday, the 26th, yielding the deluge that many residents described as the biggest and deadliest in the city’s recent history.

Flood waters rose up to the chest of the male victim, and his first contorted in innumerable, sorrowful pieces as he recounted how the rains started as a soothing balm for him and his family, before turning into showers of sorrow that swept off everything he ever laboured for. Mercifully, he didn’t lose any member of his family. But by the time the rain subsided, it had left at least 1,500 citizens homeless, 500 houses submerged and 100 vehicles swept off.

If Nigerians thought that would be the end of the showers of tears, they were terribly mistaken. On Monday, this week, the worst flooding in recent years unfurled across four local government areas in the southern senatorial zone of Plateau State, sweeping off 30 settlements, snuffing out 17 precious souls. The toll had spiked to 18 as I was writing this column. According to reports, the fast moving torrents swept through Wase, Langtang North and South, and Kanem local government areas, ravaging farmlands, killing people and livestock.

It was a tragedy of monumental proportions.
The Abeokuta floods have also added to the nightmares of Lagos, Nigeria’s former capital city, by further raising the water level of the city that has already sunk at least two metres below sea level. Sparklight and River Valley Estates, as well as Kara village, the cow market opposite Gateway City on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, were still heavily flooded as I drove past on Saturday.

The problem was, however, not limited to Abeokuta, Plateau and Lagos. Port Harcourt, Onitsha and Aba, among others, have had their fair share of floods this wet season. Unlike the unprecedented deluge in Britain, which turned streets to gutters and left some 350,000 Brits without running water, the unstoppable torrents in Nigeria were largely induced by indiscipline and absolute disregard for law. Residents in most flood-prone areas of the country don’t show respect to sanitation laws. They dump refuse and filth inside drainages, canals, even on the roadside, and build mountains of refuse that not only litter the whole place but obstruct the free flow of rain water.

The rich and the powerful in the society also have little regards for urban and regional planning laws. They build indiscriminately on sewage lines, river courses and in such other areas that endanger public health and safety, regardless of the eerie implications of their lawlessness. Yet, when the disasters come, it is the poor bear the brunt of their lawlessness.

On top of these, there is also the non-chalance of governments at various levels, especially the flood-prone states, to act pro-actively against clear and present dangers even when the warning signals are there and long standing.

Take for instance, the perennial floods that used to ravage Gombe State and which came to a head in 2004. The flooding in the North Eastern state has a history of about 27 years. Despite the fact that it used to be an annual occurrence, it still caught the authorities napping in 2004 when six people died and over 250 houses were washed away. The disaster also yielded over 2000 refugees. So serious were the floods that consultants commissioned by the Mohammed Goje Administration warned that if not properly contained, it may spill to adjoining states.

The consultants estimated and recommended that N8 billion be earmarked to combat the monster. But the state government had to cry out that it lacked the financial muscle to shoulder the budget in view of its meager earnings from the federation account. Perhaps, the problem may not have reached such a critical stage had the past administrations in the state had been more sensitive to the problem. For so long, not much was done and the monster simply blossom.

For so long, flooding and its attendant human misery has been a recurring problem in parts of the country, especially with sloppy topography or rising water table level. And for so long, we did little or nothing. We just kept on in our set ways as if oblivious of the fact that nature can go wild any day and any way. We are deficient in things as simple as flood forecasting. Our warning system is not effective. No levees are erected against rivers that are known to overflow their banks during the rains. Defenses against floods and flooding are either few or weak or totally non-existent. Flood channels’ clearances are either blocked by deposits of erosion or they are simply not available.

And when the disasters eventually come, we are ill prepared to rescue or help the victims promptly. When Britain was hit by its worst flooding in 60 years, last month, we saw, on satellite television, the prompt response (by my estimation) of a nation that values its human resources. I watched the live coverage, from the helicopter of SKY TV, how national emergency officers, the military, notably the Royal Air Force and coastguard helicopters airlifted hundreds of victims to safety in what many believe as one of Britain's largest peacetime rescue operations. This was in addition to providing emergency accommodation and their most important needs like water, food and medication in some cases. These were largely absent in the case of Abeokuta and Plateau State where NEMA slumbered when it mattered most-the onset of the disasters. Unlike what we saw in Britain, beleaguered victims here were largely left to grapple with their unfortunate fate for several hours after the deluge began.

Our response to emergencies should be faster if we want the world to take us serious.
There should be adequate warnings and effective flood forecasting, accompanied by pre-emptive measures put in place to tackle emergencies. Barriers should be erected by the banks of rivers that are likely to overflow during the rains. The meteorological department needs to be armed with modern equipment to facilitate effective forecasting and education of citizens against flash floods, like we had in Plateau State. People should be made fully aware of the weather situation at all times.

The citizens of the flood-prone areas should exercise more restrain in the way they dispose refuse and filth. They should not block drainages, as some do with impunity, nor build on river courses like some lawless but influential people in society do. For instance, and according to Governor Daniel, the Abeokuta flooding was caused by illegal structures built on drainages and waterways. Such structures should be demolished without compensation to their owners to serve as deterrent to other lawbreakers.

Above all, now is the time for Nigeria to give serious attention to the phenomenon of global warming, by regulating environmental pollution, especially in our cities. We will only be postponing our own evil day if we continue to treat this worrisome phenomenon with impunity.

Permit me to end on this note. Victims who lost properties and means of livelihood, like crops and livestock, should be adequately compensated. This will be highly necessary to absorb the losses, giving the fact that most of the victims may no have insurance covers and when all else fails, government should provide a solid shoulder to lean on. Government must provide adequate funds for flood-prone states to forestall future recurrence. Mercifully, this is part of the reason the Ecological Fund was set up. This is the time to avail the affected states its use. The federal government can even go a step further by granting interest-free loans to the affected states. Governments must be more proactive.