Nigeria lost $6,681b to 2022 flood – FG

The Federal Government has disclosed that the country lost about $ 6,681 billion to the 2022 flood.

The Federal Government also noted that though the 36 States including FCT were affected by the flood, the worst affected states are Jigawa, Rivers, Taraba, Cross River, Delta, and Bayelsa.

The Federal Government also explained that it deployed technology to assess the impact of the flooding incidents instead of relying on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) which would have taken about six months to conduct.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq disclosed this in Abuja on Friday during the presentation of the Global Rapid Post Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) report of the 2022 flood.

The minister also explained that the objective of the GRADE Nite developed by the World Bank’s Disaster-Resilience Analytics and Solutions (D-RAS) team, was to assess the economic impact of the June-November 2022 Nigeria Floods.

She also hinted that people who were displaced and those whose farmlands were destroyed would be compensated.

Highlighting  some of the findings, the minister said: “The extent of the population affected and houses damaged or destroyed is worse than the 2012 flooding in some localized areas.

“This analysis estimates that the total direct economic damages, based on currently reported statistics as of November 25th are in the range of $3.79 billion to $9.12 billion with the best (median) estimate at $6.68 billion.

“This includes damages to residential and non-residential buildings (including building contents), as well as damages to infrastructure, productive sectors, and to cropland.

“Estimated median damage is thus generally lower than the 2012 assessment (PDNA), but some localized areas may have experienced greater impacts than in 2012 and past seasons such as 2018.”

She continued: “The number of persons affected has risen over the season since June up to between 4.4 million and 4.9 million affected people as of November 25th (around 2% of the country’s population).

“In terms of destroyed and damaged buildings, there is significant damage in many states, with counting still ongoing.”

“There is significant damage to infrastructure including roads, irrigation, and river infrastructure as well as WASH and electricity infrastructure with around $1.23 billion ($0.959-$1.724 billion) in damage expected.”

“Damage to crops, associated water infrastructure, fisheries, and livestock was also severe.”

On the states affected, Farouq said: “All 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been affected by the 2022 flood in Nigeria; with varying degrees of damages and people affected.

“Worse affected States are Jigawa, Rivers, Taraba, Cross River, and Delta and Bayelsa.”

On farmlands destroyed, she said: “Well over 650,000 hectares of crops have been reportedly damaged, with modeling and other reports suggesting this is expected to increase past 1,000,000 hectares damaged or destroyed.

Read Also: Nigeria will experience flood in 2023 – NEMA

“The median estimate of these damages is around $1.837 billion with a significant range ($526 million – $2.473 billion) given changing yields, damage ratios, replanting possibilities, and uncertainties in market values of crops, livestock, and fisheries.”

On efforts made to cushion the impact of the flood, the minister said the federal government sent relief material to all affected states.

She added that an abridged copy of the GRADE report was submitted to President Buhari which led to the approval of an emergency intervention and livelihood program for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

“NEMA had reached out to about 315,000 displaced persons with relief materials across the states of the federation. The assessment is going to give us an overview of the destruction over the period.

On compensation, she said: “The assessment was not done for the sake of it. I have submitted this report to President Buhari. A presidential committee was also set up chaired by the Governor of Jigawa state.

“We have submitted this report to the secretariat and I have spoken to the chairman of the committee and very soon, we are going to sit down to see how the government is going to support and compensate these individuals especially.

For the infrastructure, it is a big one and as a ministry, we are working to reach these individuals, especially those who have lost their farmlands and those displaced.

“The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) is also going to step in to see how they can use the report to carry out their interventions. Other MDAs are working and I am sure very soon, we expect presidential intervention.”

On discussion with the government of Cameroon and the release of water from the Lagdo Dam, she said: “The flood that we experienced in 2022 was unprecedented and it has nothing or much less to do with the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.

“There are however discussions with the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon and that is happening, we hope some issues will be addressed but the ministry of water resources is in a better position to give an update on that.”

The minister also called on relevant MDAs in federal, state, and local governments to utilize the report to ameliorate the plight of victims of the 2022 flood.

(Nation)