Nigeria at 52 IN FLOOD DISASTER

Nigeria at 52 IN FLOOD DISASTER

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  NIGERIA AT 52OF POST-COLONIALISM: VALUING THE COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, FLOOD AND BAD GOVERNANCE Dr. (Mrs) Rose N. Nwankwo1,Udochukwu A.O Ogbaji2 and Cosmas M.Uchime3 1 Department of Public Administration, Federal Polytechnic, Oko. Anambra State. Nigeria. Email: [email protected]. Phone: +2348033352793 2 Federal Polytechnic, Oko. Anambra State. Nigeria. Email: [email protected] Phone: +2348033486531 3 Diamond Bank PLC. Nnewi Branch, Anambra State. Nigeria Abstract It would be recalled that Lagdo Dam in northern Cameroon released water on Saturday, 26th of August 2012 which led to flooding that submerged several settlements in Northern, Eastern and Southern Nigeria. Nothing can better describe the condition of Anambra and Delta riverine communities than anguish, pain and poverty. These resulted from flooding when the River Niger overflowed its banks. Many communities in some local government areas of these states have been at the mercy of flooding and erosion and other ecological disasters since the beginning of the rainy season. Regardless of the fact that the rains may have subsided, no fewer than 25 million Nigerians living along coastal communities of Rivers, Niger, Benue, Sokoto, Katsina Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Cross River states in Nigeria may be threatened by displacement and devastation before the end of the year. There are numerous environmental problems that plague different parts of the world in the face of climate change. These range from pollution, earthquake, landslide, tsunami, hailstorm, heat wave, deforestation, indiscriminate bush burning, natural wildfire, desertification, climate change, rain and windstorms, flood, volcanicity, drought and erosion among others. These natural disasters are caused by nature and despite man’s technological advancement and prodigious efforts to put a stop to them, they still ravage his habitants killing him and destroying his property. It is on this basis that this paper investigates the recent (flood) natural disaster in Nigeria and its implications on the people of Nigeria. Through empirical findings, we measure the extent to which the Federal and State governments’ interfered in making sure that the flood disaster does not destroy lives and properties of Nigerians. We found that our government is not responsive to the welfare of the people. We recommend, among others that for sustainable development,
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  disaster prevention andrisk management, environmental monitoring, early warning and preparedness are key factors never to be ignored by the Nigerian government in particular and global environmental management agencies in general. Good and practicable environment policies should also be formulated by our policy makers. Keywords: Flood, Natural disaster, property, risk management, environmental policy.