… 3.2 Million People Impacted by Devastating Consequences
…. Over 300,000 Homes, 400,000 Farmlands Destroyed
Daud Olatunji
A 75-year-old grandmother in Calabar,Southern Nigeria, Nkese Oyo-Ita, who was one of the 3.2 million survivors of the climate change crisis in Nigeria in 2022 lamented “we lived in extreme fear of being drowned or washed away with our belongings.
“Sudden, unpredictable, and uncontrollable floods erode the soil, and the loss of life and property is a nightmare for many Nigerians.
“It destroys crops, farms, lands and houses. We used to have a cocoa plantation, but the erosion swept it away,” said Michael Igboria, of Edo State in Southern Nigeria.
“Whenever it rained, all the boys would come out with shovels and cutlasses to clear the street and create gutters. But that was not enough to solve the problem.”
The septuagenarian spoke with the National Emergency Management Agency following her loss she suffered as a result of climate change in 2022.
Apart from lives that were lost, properties worth billions of naira were lost to the ravaging flooding which wrecked havoc almost in all the states of the country.
The data available shows that, there was no state that was spared by the flooding. While some recorded deaths ,others did not ,but, the common features are that many Nigerians were affected .
… Lagos, 9th fastest sinking city globally-Report
Lagos, Nigeria is one of the 13 countries in the world’s fastest sinking cities that may lose no fewer than eight million persons who may be climate refugees by 2050,PLATFORM TIMES reports.
According to a recent report where 13 cities in the world are the fastest sinking cities, Lagos is number 9 .
The report mentioned Venice; Alexandria Egypt’s second largest city ; New York City ; Miami ; Lagos,Nigeria; Amsterdam ; Dakar Bangladesh ; Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam ; Houston, Texas ; Bangkok, Thailand ; New Orleans ; Mexico City and Jakarta, Indonesia as fastest cities in the world that might feel the hit in real sense by 2050.
On the looming disaster in Lagos, Nigeria, the report stated further “number 9 Lagos Nigeria has 180 kilometers of Coastline that sits less than one meter above sea level. It’s already suffers from constant flooding and 8 million people will be displaced when it’s submerged by 2050.”
2022 Data On Flooding Incidents As Released By NEMA
Giving it’s 2022 reports on the effects of climate change in Nigeria, the National Emergency Management Agency said
no fewer than 612 Nigerians have been killed by devastating floods, while 1.4 million Nigerians were forced into refugee Camps.
The data also showed that 3,219,780 persons were affected in the country in 2022 ,just as 181,600 houses were partially damaged and 124,807 houses were totally damaged.
The NEMA also disclosed that 176,852 hectares of farmland were partially destroyed while a total of 392,300 hectares were totally destroyed.
According to the agency, 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory have been affected by flood, resulting in loss of lives and properties, as Bayelsa takes lead of most affected areas.
… States -By-States Flooding Incidents
Bayelsa State, located in the Niger Delta region, has been the worst hit with 1,210,183 displaced people and 96 deaths.
Also, in Borno State, located in northeastern Nigeria, the number of displaced persons stood at 35,380, with 57 reported deaths and 66,216 persons affected.
Jigawa State, in the northwest, witnessed the displacement of 68,883 individuals, resulting in 103 deaths and affecting 166,076 people.
In Katsina, 70,795 persons were displaced,four died while 274,758 were affected in 2022
In Zamfara,northwest, 9,243 persons displaced,two died while 26,019 persons were affected in 2022 flood incidnets.
In Anambra,southeast,35,074 persons were affected while 120 persons died .
In the same vein, Cross River State, in the south-south region, 91,276 persons were displaced, with two fatalities and 136,055 persons affected.
Furthermore, in Ebonyi State, in the southeast, 24,509 individuals have been displaced but, no death recorded.
Akwa Ibom State,SouthSouth, has witnessed the displacement of 65,036 individuals, resulting in 11 deaths.
Imo State, southeast, has recorded 35,871 displaced persons and four deaths, while Niger State has seen 35,629 persons displaced, with 12 reported deaths.
In Enugu state, southeast, 33,287 individuals were displaced, with two reported deaths and 35,021 persons affected.
Benue state, northcentral, has 32,633 displaced persons, with 34 deaths and 83,016 individuals affected.
Kwara state, northcentral, reported 26,110 displaced persons, with nine deaths and 35,244 persons affected.
While Adamawa state,northeast, recorded 24,542 individuals displaced, with 18 deaths and 178,649 persons affected.
Nasarawa state,northcentral, records 22,040 displaced persons, with seven deaths and 34,827 individuals affected.
Abia state,southeast, has 14,881 displaced persons and 26,636 affected individuals.
Plateau state,northcentral, has 11,937 displaced persons, three deaths, and 23,102 affected individuals.
Sokoto state,northwest, records, 9,759 displaced persons, with one death and 24,820 individuals affected.
Edo state,SouthSouth, has 9,639 displaced persons and 24,764 affected individuals but, no death.
Taraba state, northeast, has 9,461 displaced persons, with 57 deaths and 171,820 individuals affected.
Lagos state,southwest, has 5,721 displaced persons, 22 deaths, and 24,131 affected individuals.
Delta state, south south, has 4,812 displaced persons and 11,823 affected individuals.
Gombe state, northeast, records, 3,048 displaced persons, with 30 deaths and 34,502 affected individuals.
Bauchi state, northeast, has 2,738 displaced persons, with 20 deaths and 25,122 affected individuals.
Kano state, northwest, has 1,633 displaced persons, with eight deaths and 89,890 affected individuals.
Kebbi state, northwest, revords 2,777 displaced persons and 12,096 affected individuals.
Kaduna state, northwest, has 2,286 displaced persons, with one death and 9,525 affected individuals.
Osun state,southwest, has 1,022 displaced persons and 2,565 affected individuals.
Oyo state, southwest, records 897 displaced persons and 6,194 affected individuals.
Kogi state,northcentral, has 200 displaced persons, and the number of affected individuals is yet to be determined.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has recorded 156 displaced persons and 156 affected individuals.
Ondo state,southwest, records, 1,565 displaced persons and 156 affected individuals.
Rivers state, southsouth, has recorded 23 deaths and 121,276 affected individuals.
Ogun state, southwest, records, 4,885 affected individuals,no death.
Ekiti state, southwest, has 960 affected individuals, and Yobe state, northeast, records 44,812 displaced persons, 62 deaths, and 33,900 affected individuals.
… NEMA Assesses Flood Disaster In Ondo, Others
The NEMA as part of it’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of flooding, visited some affected states with relief materials.
The agency had last month visited two communities in Akure South and Ifedore Ondo state which were seriously affected by the flash flood that occurred on the 23rd to 24th of June, 2023 .
According to the agency, it wrecks havoc as several homes with families trapped were submerged in water” and luckily, no life was lost.
It said, farmlands, poultry, and fish ponds worth millions of naira were destroyed.
The team lead, Mrs Foluso Aladetimehin ACTO commiserated with the victims and assured them of the Federal Government’s continued support to alleviate the sufferings of the people.
She also beckoned on the Ondo State government to expedite actions to dredge the waterways channels in the State as it was obvious the flood was a result of blockage and overflow of the river and human activities of dumping refuse in the river.
… WMO: Our mandate Climate State of the Global Climate in 2022
Climate change is taking a major human, economic and environmental toll in Europe, the fastest-warming continent of the world. The year 2022 was marked by extreme heat, drought and wildfires. Sea surface temperatures around Europe reached new highs, accompanied by marine heatwaves. Glacier melt was unprecedented.
The State of the Climate in Europe 2022 report, the second in an annual series, was produced jointly by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
It shows how Europe has been warming twice as much as the global average since the 1980s, with far-reaching impacts on the region’s socio-economic fabric and ecosystems. In 2022, Europe was approximately 2.3 °C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) average used as a baseline for the Paris Agreement on climate change.
But, in a sign of hope for the future, renewable energy generated more electricity than polluting fossil fuels for the first time last year. Wind and solar power generated 22.3% of European Union (EU) electricity in 2022, overtaking fossil fuel (20%).
The report has a special focus on energy and highlights how more extreme weather, including intense heat, heavy precipitation and droughts have growing implications for the supply, demand and infrastructure of Europe’s energy system.
… The World Bank Group and Paris Alignment
The World Bank Group made a commitment to align all its financing operations with the goals of the Paris Agreement in its Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2025.
The Paris Alignment of the Bank Group’s new financing flows is the most comprehensive institutional undertaking ever done by the Bank Group to reconcile development and climate.
The World Bank is on track to align 100% percent of new operations, starting from July 1, 2023. For IFC and MIGA, 85% of new operations will be aligned starting July 1, 2023, and 100% from July 1, 2025.
This is part of a broader multilateral development bank (MDB) vision to align financing flows with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The World Bank Group’s Paris Alignment undertaking will entail an integrated vetting approach – screening, managing, and reducing climate risks for both mitigation and adaptation – for every project, using publicly disclosed Instrument Methods (World Bank), Sector Notes (World Bank Group), and joint MDB Paris Alignment Approach (directly applicable to investment/guarantee operations for IFC and MIGA).
By Paris Alignment, we mean that with respect to World Bank Group financial support for any country, public or private entity, as applicable, new financing flows and guarantees provided by the Bank Group will be consistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and a country’s pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
For these purposes, Paris Alignment is assessed in the broader context of the Bank Group’s twin goals: to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in a sustainable way; and takes into account equity concerns and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of countries’ different national circumstances among other things.
Practically, all Bank Group financed operations will have to support the deployment of lower-carbon options as applicable, whenever technically and economically feasible, and prevent carbon lock-in; and ensure that material climate risks have been assessed and reduced through the design of the operation to an acceptable level. In line with the Paris Agreement, the Bank Group’s Paris Alignment approach recognizes that countries have differentiated circumstances in implementing the Paris Agreement. As such, our Paris Alignment assessments will be operation-, context-, and time-specific, and for a given set of development objectives.
The Bank Group’s Paris Alignment process will involve learning-by-doing, refining guidance, building capacity, and adapting mechanisms as lessons emerge. It will also be iterative as technologies, markets and innovations help drive down costs of lower-carbon, resilient options.
As we begin to prepare and implement Paris Alignment in our operations, we are committed to receiving feedback and learning. We welcome any thoughts you may have as we continue to refine and review our experience with our clients, other MDBs, and civil society.
… $900m NEWMAP Spent On 12m Persons
According to the report obtained form the NEMA website, more than 12 million people have benefited from the $900 million Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Project (NEWMAP).
The agency said it was to reinforce the country’s ability to fight climate induced erosion, natural hazards, and disasters.
It added that 52,000 jobs in the sectors promoting climate adaptation – direct and indirect – were created through the first Sovereign Green Bonds.
It said “23 states adopted innovative integrated approaches for adaptive development based on community participation.
“Increasing climate variability in Nigeria is causing more intense and untimely rainfall. Adding to land degradation, flash floods, landslides, and gully erosion have worsened across one of the ten most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts.
“By 2009, an estimated 6,000 gullies were destroying roads, highways, pipelines, and houses across rural and urban Nigeria. Many Nigerians lived in fear and despair due to these extreme weather events.
“In response to the situation, the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), launched in 2012, adopted innovative integrated approaches based on community participation.
“The project, completed in 2022, linked poverty alleviation with sustainable ecosystems and better disaster-risk prevention. This holistic approach has improved the lives and safety of more than 12 million people in 23 states in Nigeria.
Roseline Okhale, of the Ibore Community in Edo State says “When the road and gully had not been done, my husband used to put sand on parts of the road damaged by flood erosion. Now he no longer has to do this. The work done by the project in our community is very good, and residents are very happy because they no longer fear flood and gully erosion,”
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that NEWMAP initiated mechanisms to protect Nigerians from future climate change impacts.
The project focused on the restoration of 90 gully sites and the construction of close to 60 catchments to control erosion.
“Warning systems were implemented, and 103 automated weather and flood early-warning systems provide data for catchment planning, rainfall prediction, and flood monitoring for five River Basin Development Authorities.
“Stormwater diversion plans were developed to stop gully formation, manage flood risks in urban areas, and adapt to higher rainfall. Solid waste management was improved to decrease flooding during heavy rains.
Also speaking, Evangelist Jeremiah Asuka of Njang Asang in Cross River State, sais “for us, NEWMAP means ‘gully must go’. Many years ago, you could not stand here.
“This place was a deadly jungle. But as you can see, we are here, and cars are passing through this place,”
“To help farmers cope with droughts, climate-smart agricultural innovations to conserve water such as solar-powered drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting have been rolled out.
“Enhancing climate finance with green bonds for adaptation and mitigation
“To help the Government of Nigeria finance ‘green investments’ in agriculture, energy, water, and transport, green Bonds were issued – a premiere in Africa. The bonds raised $30 million in 2017 and $41 million in 2019.
“The NEWMAP supported initiatives helped decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Afforestation and innovative technologies, such as fuel-efficient cookstoves, solar-powered Primary Health Centres, borehole pumps, meat-dryers, and agro-processing plants, were introduced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and dependence on fossil fuels and fuel wood.
“Climate-focused policy research and initiatives include an LPG Framework to reduce dependence on wood and kerosene, feasibility studies of grid-connected solar power plants, and a transportation system running on natural gas, as well as digital Environment Impact Assessments.
“In addition, 185,000 local government officials and community members were trained in environmental management to boost their knowledge of land degradation, soil and water conservation, catchment management planning, sustainable farming, and waste management.
“NEWMAN’s successful demonstrations are bound to inspire others seeking comprehensive, people-centered strategies to tackle soil erosion while preparing for climate change adaptation and GHG mitigation.”
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