The rains are here with us again. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) for this year is quite high. It shows that we must gird our loins and be well prepared for the challenges that come with the rains.
As we welcome the rainy season and the prospects of a bountiful harvest that it has brought, we must ask if we are prepared for the problems that it brings. Going by recent experiences in the country, it is doubtful that the relevant authorities are fully prepared for the management of the challenges of this season. Since the rains are a natural phenomenon which come at about the same period every year, we should not be caught napping or allow its adverse effects to get the better of the country.
One of the most critical problems associated with the rains is that of floods, which place the lives and property of people in many parts of the country at risk. Flooding is worsened by the lack of proper drainages and channels into which the rains can flow. Rain water also poses a challenge to roads which drastically worsen during the period. Flooded pothole-ridden roads particularly pose serious danger to motorists and other commuters.
In many states of the South-east and South-south geo-political zones, the perennial erosion problems are worsened by the rains, leaving local communities counting their losses and becoming refugees in their own country.
The ecological funds created to address these unavoidable visits of nature are frequently misapplied, and sometimes used to reward questionable loyalty to the central government. This practice must stop. We demand accountability in the administration of ecological funds and other resources that should be used to address flooding and erosion in the country.
The country needs to be more pro-active in mapping out areas prone to flood disaster. In this regard, we must credit the effort of Lagos State which has been more active of late in dealing with the challenge of excess rainfall. Only last week, it listed a number of communities in the state that are susceptible to flooding and asked residents to vacate them. The trouble is where such residents would go to in the interim, and whether the problem would ever be permanently solved for them to live in confidence and peace in their homes.
This is where the government of Lagos and other coastal states need to do more. There are new technologies that can convert the excessive hydro resources into power while also generating a number of other useful resources like bitumen. The times we live in require thinking out of the box, for creative and enduring solutions to the problems we face. Our governments must therefore rise to the occasion.
In addition, the responsibility of the citizens cannot be wished away. Public sanitation and disposal of wastes remain big problems and major sources of flooding. Whereas the government is doing its best by providing waste disposal and waste conversion mechanisms, the citizens still need to avail themselves of these facilities to ensure that wastes are properly managed. The habit of dropping wastes everywhere has been with us for too long and should be discarded if we are to make any headway with the flooding challenge. Carelessly disposed wastes often block drainages and channels built to control water flow and result in heavy flooding and erosion.
All of the flooding control mechanisms like the planting of trees and clearing of drainages must be implemented fully and on time too. The experience over time is that all levels of government in Nigeria and their agencies are more reactive than proactive. They hardly anticipate areas that are prone to rain disasters with a view to nipping them in the bud. To achieve maximum results, all the relevant government agencies like the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Health, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and NIMET must work in concert. Farming methods that involve bush burning and logging of wood for charcoal and other uses have been known to accentuate the problem of flooding and desertification, which can only worsen the problems of the rains.
As we grapple with the challenges of this rainy season, we urge the government and all Nigerians to wake up to their responsibilities. Most important of all, we hope that the country will be spared the ugly circle of avoidable losses of lives and property which have attended our rainy seasons in recent years.
