Thousands of people have abandoned their homes due to flooding in Nigeria. Picture: National Emergency Management Agency
ACROSS Nigeria, Africa’s most-populous country, devastating floods continue to ravage farmlands, destroy crops and force tens of thousands of people to abandon their homes.
At least 300 people have been killed in the floods. It is believed that some 100,000 people have been displaced and are living in temporary shelters, according to local media reports.
The flooding has affected an estimated half a million people and destroyed infrastructure and farmland in 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states and the capital city.
In the farming town of Tiga, 70km outside Kano in the north of the country, people had been particularly hard hit, a Reuters report revealed.
‘This field has become completely barren. After the flood subsided, the rice was killed. Then another disaster occurred. The bridge was washed away by the rain, which deposited sand and broken bitumen, covering the entire field. Now we don’t even have a field to plant crops in,’ said Tiga rice farmer Adamu Garba.
CHOLERA OUTBREAK
Authorities in Nigeria's north-eastern state of Gombe have declared an outbreak of cholera after recording at least 10 deaths arising from the disease.
A total of 236 cases of cholera were recorded as of Tuesday, Habu Dahiru, the commissioner for health in Gombe, told reporters in Gombe city, the state's capital, while declaring an outbreak of the disease in at least eight wards of the Balanga local government area.
GRAIN DISTRIBUTION
The Nigerian government said on Tuesday that it had concluded arrangements to distribute at least 12,000 tons of assorted grains to vulnerable citizens to cushion the effects of rising food prices, according to reports.
The sharing of assorted food items from the National Strategic Grains Reserves was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, said Mustapha Habib Ahmed, the director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency.
The 12,000 tons of assorted grains included 151.6 tons of maize, 100 tons of sorghum and 62.5 tons of millet, the official said.
Nigeria's inflation rate reached a 17-year high, standing at 20.52 percent in August.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Nigeria’s climate has been changing, evident in: increases in temperature; variable rainfall; rise in sea level and flooding; drought and desertification; land degradation; more frequent extreme weather events; affected fresh water resources and loss of biodiversity, says the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The durations and intensities of rainfall have increased, producing large run-offs and flooding in many places in Nigeria.
Rainfall variation is projected to continue to increase. Precipitation in southern areas is expected to rise and rising sea levels are expected to exacerbate flooding and submersion of coastal lands