28 states are likely to encounter severe flooding this year, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu declared openly on Thursday.
Adamu dropped the hint at the public presentation of the 2021 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) in Abuja, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.
He detailed the states to include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, FCT, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano and Kebbi.
Others are Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara states.
The minister remarked that the 2012 flood brought about enormous destruction of lives and properties across the country.
This, he remarked, necessitated the putting in place of proper mechanism to equip Nigerians to confront the disaster whenever it happened.
According to him, the NIHSA forecasts have improved the awareness among the citizenry and led to taking measures to prevent severe flooding this year.
“This year, we will be grappling with the two dangers of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the impending floods as foreseen in the AFO.
“The flood projections show varying severity across parts of the country.
“In summary, the 2021 AFO forecast implies that 302 local government areas in 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), will fall within the moderate probable flood risk areas.
“It is expected from the forecast that 121 local government areas in 28 states will fall within the highly probable risk areas.
“The states surrounding Rivers Niger and Benue are, without doubt, going to encounter serious flooding.
“Floods come with attendant health hazards through the contamination of potable water sources. The 2021 flooding will be exacerbated by the continuing ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.