Causes and Effects of Flooding in Nigeria: A Review

Abstract

Flooding is an environmental hazard that needs appropriate measures to be instituted to stem the tide of occurrence. The study relied on previous academic/scholarly articles in achieving the aim. It was noted in the study that flooding is caused by natural and human activities. For instance, excessive rainfall, terrain and nature of soils are natural causes of flooding. Furthermore, poor environmental planning/monitoring, housing development in flood prone areas, deforestation, haphazard developments resulting in the blockage of drains, poor waste disposal practices, negligence by government in designing and implementing policies at various levels as well as poor environmental planning and weak enforcement of policies contribute to flood occurrence. To this end, the present study suggested that government should ensure that environmental management policies are properly enforced in the country. Equally, development control activities should be taken seriously to avoid erecting developments on flood plains and flood prone areas. Finally, regular environmental education should be given priority in the society.

Flood Policy and Governance: A Pathway for Policy Coherence in Nigeria

“…Causes of flood in Nigeria are generally divided into three factors (i) meteorological factors: oceans storms and tidal waves usually along the coastal areas, heavy rainstorms; (ii) physical factors: insufficient drainage management, and catchment area; (iii) human factors: poor land use planning; siltation, deforestation, collapse of dams, lack of flood management policies, and institutional arrangements etc., [10,19,51,[57][58][59]. Nwigwe and Emberga [57] observed that in Nigeria flood occurs either in forms coastal flood, rriver flooding, flash floods, uurban flooding, fluvial flood, dam burst leave failures, and dam spills.…”

“…Flood risk is the product of the flood hazards probability, the vulnerability and the exposure of the environment, people and the economy [35]. As highlighted by various studies flood risk probability is high in Nigeria, every region is vulnerable to flood [19,35,64]. In terms of climate change, Nigeria ranks as the 7th most vulnerable country in the world because the country is located in one of the most vulnerable regions in the world (Verisk Maplecroft's Climate Change Vulnerability Index 2016) [65].…”

“…Many flood studies in Nigeria have found that rainfall amounts were above normal during the rainy season, notably in the coastal, Sudanian and Sahelian regions (July-September) resulting in severe flash floods, and causing the major rivers (Niger, Benue, Hadejia e.tc.) to overflow and cause catastrophic damages to lives and properties [10,[13][14][15][18][19][20][21][22]. Etuonovbe [23] and Umar and Gray [24] observed that throughout the millennium, Nigeria has experienced increasing numbers of extreme wet events, resulting in severe flooding.…”

“…In Nigeria, flooding has become one of the major threats to deal with given the poor and limited infrastructure, and political-will. In addition, the lack of human and financial resources of local governments and a lack of coordination between relevant stakeholders contributing to the inadequate response to flood disasters [13][14][15]19,30,31]. Many programs were put in place to combat the flood threat in Nigeria.…”

A Study on the Application of Artificial Neural Network to Predict Extreme Rainfall and Flood Risk in Nigeria

“…In a similar view Ujene and Oguike (2020) reveled that flooding causes inundation and harm to plants and animals, including man, buildings and infrastructure, Meanwhile, in the year 2022, flood damages in Nigeria affected over 2.5 million people, with over 600 people killed and another 2,400 injured (Oguntola 2022). Ifiok et al (2022) pointed out that that flooding is caused by natural and human activities. For instance, excessive rainfall, terrain and nature of soils are natural causes of flooding.…”