ASSESSMENT OF THE DISASTER REDUCTION MEASURES IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF FCT)

ABSTRACT

This study investigates flood disaster management and mitigation efforts in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with a focus on assessing the effectiveness of existing regulatory tools, the relationship between land-use and flood incidence, and the distribution and efficacy of drainage channels. Utilizing a mixed-method research design, the study integrates both quantitative and qualitative data to provide a comprehensive understanding of the issue. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires administered to residents in flood-prone areas, while qualitative data were gathered from interviews, focus group discussions, and direct observations. Stratified random sampling was used to select six settlements across the six area councils of the FCT, resulting in a total of 300 respondents. Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16, with results presented in tables, bar graphs, and pie charts. The findings indicate that while waste management has been somewhat effective as a flood regulatory tool in the FCT, its impact has been limited, with flood incidents occurring at least twice since its implementation. The study also reveals that there is no significant relationship between land-use patterns and flood incidence, suggesting that flooding occurs across various land-use areas by chance rather than due to specific land-use practices. Additionally, the drainage channels in the FCT are unevenly distributed, with many being ineffective muddy channels, contributing minimally to flood prevention. On a positive note, early warning systems and flood forecasting have been effective in reducing the loss of lives and property, as residents reported taking preemptive measures in response to warnings. The study concludes with recommendations for improving flood disaster management in Nigeria, including revising the National Disaster Management Framework, increasing budgetary allocations to disaster management agencies, enhancing collaboration between state agencies and local institutions, and involving local communities in disaster planning. These measures are aimed at strengthening the resilience of at-risk communities and addressing the gaps in the current disaster management practices in Nigeria.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to the study

Human anxiousness as well as quest to improve survival chances and gain better control over their environment has indeed succeeded through man’s constant exploration, exploitation and alteration of the natural environment. This has enabled man to achieve urbanization, industrialization and development in general. These developments have not come without a very high price due to the vindictive nature of the environment (Nzeribe-George et al., 2014). There result of human activities brought about Global warming and climate change and they are the major global issues affecting every society around the world. The last decade has witnessed a global climate disruption that is unprecedented over the recent millennia, Variations in rainfall patterns have led to incidences of drought in some regions and flooding in others, often with disastrous consequences for population, and the environment. Sea level rise through global warming and increased storm water from higher precipitation has resulted in flooding around the world (Karofi, 2013; Toinpre and Salami, 2015).

Floods are the most common natural disasters that affect societies around the world (Dennis, 2012). Floods are one of the consequences of human interference with his environment which consequently create an unexpected threat to human life and property. When severe floods occur in areas occupied by humans, they can create natural disasters which involve the loss of human life and property with serious disruption to the ongoing activities of large urban and rural communities (Kwari et al., 2015). According to John (2017), estimate more than one- third of the world’s land area is flood prone affecting some 82% of the world’s population.

Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface. It is vital for all known forms of life. On Earth, 96.5% of the planet's crust water is found in seas and oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a small fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as vapour, clouds (formed of ice and liquid water suspended in air), and precipitation. About 196 million people in more than 90 countries are exposed to catastrophic flooding, and that some 170,000 deaths were associated with floods worldwide between 1980 and 2000 (John, 2017).

In Nigeria, the pattern is similar with the rest of the world. Flooding displaces more people than any other disaster, perhaps because about 20% of the Nigerian population is at risk of flooding (Okoroji, 2018). Flooding is therefore a perennial problem in Nigeria that consistently causes deaths and displacement of communities. For instance, in 2010 about 1,555 people were killed and 258,000 more were displaced by flooding, similarly in 2012, flood claimed 361 lives and displaced 2.1 million people (Eigege, 2014). Some of the causal factors of flood disasters in Nigeria include land inundation from heavy rainfall, climate change, and blockage of drainages with refuse, construction of buildings across drainages, inadequate drainage networks, and population increase in urban areas. These factors do not act independently and flood disasters usually occur from a combination of several of them (Bwala and Abdulwaheed, 2015). Moreover, urbanization results into conversion of agricultural land, natural vegetation and wetlands to built-up environments and construction on natural drainages as well increase in the population of those living in flood vulnerable areas such as flood plains and river beds (Ijere, 2014). Flooding in urban areas is not just related to heavy rainfall and extreme climatic events; it is also related to changes in the built-up areas themselves. In the case of Abuja, the problems of street flooding began when some socio economic and anthropogenic activities gained momentum as a means of face lifting the city as Federal Capital of Nigeria. The influx of people from both rural and adjoining states, internally displaced persons (IDPs) came all the way from the north east of Nigeria due to insurgency led to increased demand for housing. Houses were hurriedly built to on flood plains by property developers without adhering to the land use planning to meet the burgeoning demand for shelter (Bwala and Abdulwaheed, 2015).

Reduction of the risk of flooding depends largely on the amount of information on the flood that is available and the knowledge of the areas that are likely to be affected during a flood event. Therefore, it is necessary to use modern day technique in developing measures that will help relevant authorities and relief agencies in the identification of flood prone areas and in planning against flooding events in the future. Determining the flood prone area is important for effective flood mitigations (Ayariga, 2014). It is the dire need to look into disaster risk reduction in flood prone areas in Abuja propelled the cause of this study.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Flood is said to be the most significant effect of climate change on the poor (Adelekan, 2010). Worldwide, there has been a rapid growth in the number of people killed or seriously impacted by storms and floods and also in the amount of economic damage caused; a large and growing proportion of these impacts are in urban areas in low- and middle-income nations. For instance, in Nigeria, flooding affected more than three million people in selected urban areas between 1983 and 2009 (Bwala and Abdulwaheed, 2015).

The trend in the frequency and intensity of disasters nationally and internationally is due to unpredictable climatic changes, severe flooding, fire, drought, terrorism, epidemics and urbanization especially in developing countries. One very important but frequently ignored aspect in flood management efforts in Nigeria is risk assessment (Agyarko et al., 2010). Urbanization and lack of good local governance have been regarded as a major creator of urban flood risk (Agyarko et al. 2010). Urbanization exacerbates the damages cause by flooding by restricting where flood or storm waters can go. Large parts of the ground with roofs, roads and pavements are covered, obstructing sections of natural channels and building drains that ensure that water moves to rivers faster than it did under natural conditions. In an urbanizing environment, the infiltration capacity is reduced by the replacement of ground cover with impervious urban surfaces (Odemerho, 1988). In the urban centres, the event of climate change impacts the environment either directly or via changes in water flows. Hydrological changes within the river systems are cause for concerns due to related the increase in flooding incidence or significant changes in base flows (Whitfield, 2012).

In many cities in Nigeria there is lack/inadequate infrastructural provisions to curb flooding. Urban areas in the Nigeria are particularly vulnerable to flooding due to inadequate capacity of drainage structures; changes to ecosystem through the replacement of natural and absorptive soil cover with concrete; and deforestation of hillsides, which has the effect of increasing the quantity and rate of runoff, and through soil erosion and the silting up of drainage channels.

According to Tingsanchali (2012), flood hazards are natural phenomena, but damage and losses from floods are the consequence of human action. Flash flooding /urban flooding destroys the produce e.g. crop, rice paddy, fruit tree and vegetables thereby posing the risk of hunger to those engaged in subsistence farming and great loss to those engaged at a commercial scale (Mabuku, 2022). Abuja which is the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria has recorded series of flooding events in recent times. On the August 17, 2017 flood that claimed the life of a father and his two children in Lokogoma area of the FCT sparked a solidarity march (Salihu, 2017). While on the 26 June 2020 body of a man drowned in a flash flood in Lokogoma area of Galadimawa district was recovered by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) (Adeniyi, 2020).

Another incident occurred on the August 2, 2019 a director at the FCT high court in Abuja was swept away by flood that occurred after a heavy down pour that resulted to flood in the early hours of the same day, his car was submerge in the flood, this incident occurred at the busy Galadimawa roundabout. Flooding in Abuja claimed many lives and properties. Flooding results into a lot of damages and the extent of damage varies from place to place (Okecheme, 2019). Several studies have been carried out in the aspect of flood, aimed at mapping flood prone areas, assessing the causes and impact of the flood on the people (Adedeji and Salami, 2015; Okoroji, 2018; Olorunfemi and Raheem, 2013). In fact, only a few of such studies have been carried out in the FCT, this is despite the many incidence of flood that has bedeviled the area in recent time. Despite these several studies, they seem to focus on mapping of flood prone areas without assessing the mitigating and preparedness capacity of the people. There is need to find a reasonable solution, prevention and mitigation strategy for communities in flood prone area of Abuja. It is in this regard assessment of preparedness, mitigation capacity and perception on whose responsibility it is for flood management against flood incidence in the FCT Abuja is the gap in knowledge forming the major theme of this research work.

1.3. Research Questions

The study seeks to answer the following research questions toward achieving the research objectives:

1. What are the effects of regulatory tools on disaster risk reduction in flood prone areas of Abuja?
2. What are the effects of land use on disaster risk reduction in flood prone areas of Abuja?
3. What are the effects of spatial distribution of drainage network on disaster risk reduction in flood prone areas of Abuja?
4. What are the effect of early warning and flood forecasting system on disaster risk reduction in flood prone areas of Abuja?

1.4. Aim and objectives of the study

The aim of the study is to assess the disaster reduction measures in flood prone areas of Abuja. To achieve the set aim, the following objectives shall be perused:

1. Examine the effect of regulatory tools on disaster risk reduction in flood prone areas of FCT Abuja.
2. Evaluate the effect of land use on disaster risk reduction in flood prone areas of FCT Abuja
3. Assess the effect of spatial distribution of drainage network on disaster reduction in flood prone areas if FCT Abuja.
4. Evaluate the effect of early warning and flood forecasting system on disaster risk reduction in flood areas of FCT Abuja

1.5. Hypotheses of the Study

The following hypothesis shall be tested for this study:

H0i. There is no relationship between Land use and Flood incidence within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

H0ii. There is no significant difference in flood occurrence and drainage coverage in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

1.6. Justification of the study

In the past four decades, economic losses due to natural hazards such as, floods disasters have increased in folds and have also resulted in major loss of human lives and livelihoods, the destruction of economic and social infrastructure, as well as environmental damages during this period (Malik and Hashmi, 2021). Recurring floods and other disasters have been identified as a serious threat to sustainable development.

Floods cause about one third of all deaths, one third of all injuries and one third of all damage from natural disasters (Jonkman & Kelman, 2005). Significantly, flood disasters result from human-created vulnerability which is an outcome of our interacting with the environment by some human activities such as designing and locating our infrastructure, exploiting natural resources, concentrating our population and so on (Yuzhe et al., 2022). The quality of the urban space is vital to sustainable livelihood; therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between sustainable development and disaster preparedness and management (Adedeji et al., 2012).

Since Flood disaster management can effectively reduce flood damages, this study will help assess the preparedness of the residents of flood prone areas in Abuja FCT with a view to recommend strategies to government on ways to carry the people along to provide a lasting solution to every problem associated with flood. This study will also help government agency take appraisal of their role I order to improve on it. In general, this study will help reduce incidence of flood as well as problems such as loss of lives and properties associated with it.

1.7.      Scope

          The study seeks investigates disaster risk reduction strategies in flood-prone areas of the FCT. The study is limited to selected areas that have witnessed intense incidences of flooding in recent times from 2015 to 2024. This timeframe allows for an analysis of recent trends, patterns, and impacts of flooding to inform effective mitigation strategies.

1.8. Study Area

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was created upon the promulgation of decree number 6 of 1976. It came into existence due to a need to find a replacement for the capital city of Lagos which had become congested and had little space for expansion. The area chosen as the new capital was principally Gwari land with high concentrations of Muslims and Christians and high degree of neutrality from the dominant ethnic groups. Decree 6 of 1976, gave the federal government rights over land within the territory (Uchendu et al., 1979). The population density prior to the takeover by the government was sparse with a population of 120,000 residents living in 840 villages and mostly of Gwari heritage. Inhabitants were relocated to nearby towns like Suleja in Niger state and New Karshi in Nasarawa State on the outskirts of the territory (Falola and Heaton, 2008).