Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency had in February issued early warnings predicting severe flooding in 2023. This has raised fears and panic within the civic populace, who bore the brunt of last year’s flooding.

At a training workshop for journalists in Port Harcourt, a civil society organization, Natural Justice (NJ), expressed grave concerns over the silence of both the federal and state governments as well as their agencies on the 2023 flood prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

NIMET had in it’s 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), predicted a high possibility of flash floods in some states.

In the same vein, the Director-General of Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA) in it’s 2023 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) disclosed that 178 local government areas in 32 states and the Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, will experience severe flooding in 2023.

Speaking in Port Harcourt during the training workshop on environmental human rights for journalists in the Niger Delta, NJ’s country programme manager, Mike Karikpo, wondered if the country can sustain the loss it suffered during the 2022 flood.

Karikpo said: “The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had in January this year warned about another flood that maybe as devastating as that of 2022. We all know what the country lost in the flood. Over 600 people were killed.

“But, despite the warnings of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency about the impending flood, both the federal and state governments are not saying anything.

“Also, agencies of the government such as the Federal Ministry of Environment, National Emergency Management Agency and State Emergency Management Agencies are not saying anything.

“My question is; with these silence, can Nigeria sustain the kind of loss it suffered last year of that kind of flood continues again this year?”

Last month, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report warning that global climate goals could be out of reach unless immediate and radical action is taken. Climate scientists predict that the world could surpass its 1.5 degrees Celsius climate target by the early 2030s.

While Nigeria experienced its worst flooding in decades last year, this year, at least 1,200 people were reportedly killed by Cyclone Freddy across Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. In light of increasing temperatures, African countries, while struggling to recover from ongoing climate crises, brace themselves for the onslaught of new climate events.

It is worthy to note how Africa, despite contributing about 4 per cent of warming emissions globally, bears the brunt of extreme weather events like Cyclone Freddy. There is also the need to highlight the urgency of a loss and damage fund of more than $300 million pledged by European nations, agreed upon at last year’s global climate conference.

The urgency of the climate crisis and the loss and damage fund should not be ignored. The disruption of economies and economic activity, water and food systems, and public health could culminate in multiple humanitarian crises across Africa. This is especially since recovering from climate events like drought and flooding largely depends on the availability of funds to facilitate appropriate responses.’