By Uche Onyeali
Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA said 1,249 communities in 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, are at high-risk of severe flooding.
The agency added that 2,187 communities in 293 local government areas fall within the moderate flood risk states.
Speaking in Abuja yesterday, during the unveiling of the 2025 annual flood outlook, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev said flooding remains one of the worst natural disasters in Nigeria, with climate change accelerating its frequency.
Utsev named the key states to be affected by severe flooding to include Abia, Benue, Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers and Jigawa.
The minister said the agency also unveiled its community-based predicting initiative to provide location-specific and community-focused forecasts across the country.
“1,249 communities in 176 local government areas LGAs across 30 states and the FCT fall within high-risk flood zones this year, while an additional 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs face moderate flood risks.
“As part of this year’s Annual Flood Outlook AFO, NIHSA adopted a new and effective approach to flood forecasting mechanism to ensure that critical risk information is clearly understood and actionable for vulnerable communities.
“Recognising that early warning is only impactful when properly communicated, the flood prediction has been refined to provide not only seasonal and monthly forecasts, but location-specific and community-focused forecasts,” Utsev said.
He also announced the rollout of several projects including the National Flood Insurance Programme, NFIP, — a first-of-its-kind insurance plan to protect vulnerable households, farmlands, and livestock — with Kogi and Jigawa as its pilot states.
Others are the Integrated Climate Resilience Innovation Project, I-CRIP, aimed at improving food security, energy production, and water resource use through climate-smart strategies, and the NigerFLOOD Project — for flood control and river management among others.
In 2024, flooding claimed 321 lives, affected over 1.37 million people, and displaced more than 740,000 across Nigeria.
