Environmentalists have blamed recent flood disasters on Nigerians blocking drains with waste and building on water channels.

At least 600 people were killed, and over one million displaced across the country.

In a survey in the South-South region, the experts blamed the situation on the government’s poor waste management and neglect of flood forecasts by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.

They, however, urged the government to institute preventive measures at the state and federal levels to tackle the menace.

Princewill Ayim, the director-general of the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, said there was an early red alert from NiMet that water would be discharged from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon on September 13.

“Unfortunately, there were no proactive measures taken by the federal and state governments to prevent the water from causing havoc in Nigeria,” stated Mr Ayim.

In Bayelsa, Dimie Miebi of the Department of Geography and Environmental Management Sciences, Niger Delta University, Otuoke, said poor or non-existent drainage systems caused flooding in Nigeria.

Mr Miebi said Nigeria’s increasing urbanisation contributed to the growing proportion of ground surface concrete, preventing water percolation.

A town planner with the Cross River Town Planning Service, Anthony Okon, pointed out that the neglect of town planners in building projects contributed to the blockage of waterways and submerging of buildings during flooding.

Similarly, the chairman of the Nigeria Institute of Town Planners, Edo chapter, Inanigie Audu, observed that the flood ravaging the country resulted from uncoordinated and unregulated human activities.

‘’We need state governments to domesticate the Urban and Regional Planning Decree of 1992 to empower and protect town planners to carry out their duties effectively,’’ he said.

An environmentalist in Auchi, Abass Ibrahim, urged the federal government to intensify efforts to reduce the impact of climate change in the country.

Meanwhile, churches, mosques, markets, schools, and houses in no fewer than 12 communities were submerged by flood recently in the Etsako Central local government area of Edo, including Udaba-Ekphei, Anegbette, Ukpeko Orie, Ofukpo, Agbabu, Osomegbe, Udochi, Yelwa, Ake Island and Ifeku Islay.

The traditional ruler of Anegbette, Geffrey Ugbodada, said the flooding inflicted hardship on people, rendering them homeless.

In Delta, Sylvanus Ejezie, chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), urged the government to support the victims, especially farmers, with food and other relief materials.

Wai Gosi of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, accused the federal government of poor response to NiMet’s flood predictions.

According to him, the government has continued to neglect the construction of the Dansin Hausa Dam expected to accommodate water whenever there is an excess release from Cameroon’s Lagdo dam.

A waste management expert in Port Harcourt, Joseph Abu, said apart from climate change, Nigeria had yet to implement environment-friendly policies for flood prevention and control.

Another environmentalist, Fegalo Nsuke, said, ‘’If the government is failing to set and enforce standards, citizens will naturally flout rules.”

A town planner in Akwa Ibom, Akpabio Ufot-Akpabio, stated that adequate and holistic physical planning, management and development must be implemented to mitigate flooding in the country.

However, Sunday Ntoiden, controller of the federal ministry of environment in Akwa Ibom, maintained that even when town planning was perfect, the attitudes of Nigerians must change to avoid the menace.

Mr Ntoiden urged the government to sensitise residents on the best practice of waste disposal, advising residents to inculcate the habit of desilting drainages, especially during rainy seasons, to avoid flooding.

(NAN)