Current Issues in Early Warning and Development Initiatives Towards Enhanced Flood-Related Resilience in Nigeria

Abstract

More than 4 years since the UNISDR Sendai framework replaced its predecessor, Hyogo, communities' resilience to flooding is still a major issue for especially the developing countries (DCs) such as Nigeria where there are unresolved limitations with early warning systems. The recent increase in human and economic damages caused by floods and the inability of communities to recover from the effects, despite years after the disaster, indicate that the global concept of resilience has not been fully grasped. Nigeria, which is the subject of this chapter, typifies this situation. Evidently, the historic flooding of 2012 and its predecessors affected many communities and individual victims most of whom are still struggling with disaster recovery and reconstruction. This raises important research questions. What is not understood in the present context is that government institutions have made a lot of politicizing various interventions and local initiative, but the present reality is a "pathetic travesty of disaster recovery." This chapter elucidates on these issues through theoretical discussions on community participation, risk-informed investment, and rural adaptation, all of which can be advocated to facilitate community resilience and coping capacity to all variants of flood hazards in Nigeria.

An assessment of flood event along Lower Niger using Sentinel-1 imagery

“…Interestingly, the factors that cause flooding remain more or less the same. Several studies have been carried out as regards flood disasters in Africa (Ayugi et al, 2020;Christian et al, 2021;Di Baldassarre et al, 2010;Du Plessis, 2002;Nkwunonwo, 2020;Okaka, 2019;Olorunfemi, 2011;Pelling et al, 2021;Salami et al, 2017;Viljoen & Booysen, 2006). These studies and some others cover the identification and mapping of flooded areas, risk assessment, impact, mitigation, and early warning systems.…”