The National Economic Council (NEC) revealed on Thursday that severe flooding has impacted 34 states and 217 local government areas across Nigeria, with 321 fatalities recorded.
Additionally, 1,374,557 people have been affected by the floods, while 740,743 individuals were displaced from their homes, and 2,854 sustained injuries.
The disaster also led to the destruction of 281,000 houses and 258,000 hectares of cultivated farmland.
Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, shared these details during a briefing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja following the NEC meeting, which was chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
Soludo explained that NEC has directed the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation to conduct a comprehensive review of Nigeria’s waterways and dams to address and prevent future flooding.
“The Council emphasized the necessity for a large-scale dredging initiative for the waterways,” Soludo stated, underscoring the pressing need to improve flood control.
“Governors who have not yet submitted reports on the flooding and management measures in their states have been urged to do so immediately.”
The Council also received a briefing from Professor Joseph Utsev, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, on ongoing federal efforts to mitigate the impact of flooding.
Utsev reported that 148 local governments in 31 states were identified as high flood-risk areas from April to November 2024.
In the discussion, NEC recommended infrastructure resilience in high-impact zones, especially in the Southeast and South-South regions.
The Council stressed that these areas, heavily affected by flooding, should be included in future dam construction projects as part of efforts to slow water flow along major rivers, particularly the Niger River.
According to Soludo, “There was serious emphasis on the need for dams and flood-resistant infrastructure along key waterways. Critical areas in the Southeast and South-South are severely affected yet remain omitted in current flood control programs.”
