–Paul Odenigbo

According to the 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction, recently released by the Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency, NIHSA and its counterpart, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMET, this year’s rainy season commenced earlier than expected. Both agencies also say that the cessation dates of the rains would be December and September in Southern and Northern Nigeria respectively. 

This means that this year’s rainy season would last longer than that of 2019. NIHSA and NiMET also disclosed that the wet season would come with thunderstorms and very heavy downpour that would lead to tremendous rise in the water levels of rivers and streams as well as creeks in coastal and riverine areas of the country.

The two agencies equally forecasted that the 2020 rainfall would be heavier than that of last year, and that there would be flash floods in many cities, townships and their suburbs in different parts of Nigeria. They therefore advised the three tiers of government in the country and the citizenry to brace for the impending disaster by taking precautionary measures.

To this end, the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, in collaboration with its federal counterpart, NEMA and other relevant groups such as the Red Cross, Civil Society Organizations and the Ministry of Health took steps to mitigate adverse effects of the imminent flooding. Happily, Anambra is blessed with a responsive governor, Sir Willie Obiano, who is statutorily the chairman of SEMA.

Apart from engaging in serious media campaigns, SEMA in conjunction with other relevant agencies, embarked on second round of early warning visits to flood prone local government areas to enlighten and sensitizse stakeholders of the communities on the coming heavy downpour and its consequential flooding. 

The flood-inclined local government areas of the state are; Ogbaru, Anambra East and West, Ayamelum, Onitsha North and South, Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Awka North and Idemili South. Even as we pray for divine intervention to avert the approaching danger, residents of these areas living near the rivers and streams should not hesitate to relocate to higher ground as soon as they notice significant rise in the water levels of their domiciles.

It is equally imperative for Nigerians living in our usually highly populated urban centers to stop the attitude of disposing their wastes into the drainage channels. Developers should also desist from building physical structure across natural water ways thus blocking them unnecessarily for selfish reasons.

Despite his ability to take precautionary measures or provide palliatives, human beings are often incapable of stopping natural disasters from occurring. The impending deluge such as the one predicted for this year by the Nigerian Hydrological and Meteorological Agencies belong to this class of unpreventable natural disasters. 

With global warming and climate change, which are causing snow in the Arctic region of the North pole to nowadays melt at very quick rapidity, greater volumes of water are simultaneously being delivered into the various oceans, seas, rivers and their tributaries throughout the world.

Nigerians should pray that the Cameroonian authorities would not be compelled by unsavoury circumstances to release excess water from Lake Nyos in their country, as they did in 2012, which resulted in unprecedented flood disaster that year in Nigeria.

Paradoxically, global warming is the cause of severe hot weather and wildfires in some parts of the world as witnessed recently in Australia, a country continent. Britain, especially Wales and parts of Europe are currently experiencing flood disaster. Thus, Ndi Anambra, nay Nigerians should, without further delay, get ready for the emergencies and contingencies likely to result from the approaching 2020 deluge.

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