More Flooding?! Nigeria Edition

Photo via Associated Press

A trend that I wouldn't have predicted when starting this blog, appears to be emerging. Yet another nation is dealing with the consequences of climate change in terms of floods. Nigeria is following in the footsteps of Pakistan, Italy, Puerto Rico, and areas of the United States among other nations across the world. Nigeria is prone to minor flooding on an annual basis but this year the flooding has greatly exceeded that with some of the worst flooding seen in decades. The flooding which began earlier this month hasn killed at least 603, injured more than 2,400, and displaced more than 1.4 million people according to an article by the New York Times. Furthermore, 27 of Nigeria's 36 states have been affected, and approximately 200,000 homes have been partly or completely destroyed in addition to the destruction of farmlands and other infrastructure. The economy depends a large amount on agriculture so the flooding and destruction of agricultural zones is especially devastating.

There were multiple factors involved in causing these floods. There were unusually heavy rains this month. Additionally, A dam in the neighboring country Cameroon releases water from a dam annually which causes flooding in Nigeria but the excess rain this year further exacerbated the flooding. Many of the states in Nigeria were warned about the release of water coming from Cameroon but were unable to evacuate in time. According to Nigeria’s minister of humanitarian affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq there was a failure among lower branches of government to properly respond. She states, “There was enough warning and information about the 2022 flood, but states, local governments and communities appear not to take heed” (Farouq). 

Another point of concern when it comes to issues of climate change impacting human rights is the fact that less developed nations such as Nigeria are contributing to the problem very little. A research paper on climate justice by the nonprofit Africa Center together with the Energy for Growth Hub wrote about how little African nations have impacted climate change. On the other hand, nations such as the United States, the European Union, China, India and Russia are the big emitters of carbon, known to contribute to climate change. The problem is many of the less developed and more economically challenged nations face more difficulties than the more developed countries. This leads to the issue of how larger more developed nations can be held accountable for their contributions and the damages being done. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/17/world/africa/nigeria-floods.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63280518