By Ajibola Adedoye
Heads of UN agencies in Nigeria, alongside Country Directors from Non-Governmental Associations (NGOs) and the Nigeria Red Cross Society had visited Maiduguri, Borno State following the severe flash flooding that occurred during the night of September 9, 2024 leading to displacement of tens of thousands of people as a result of the collapse of the Alau Dam.
On arrival, the team met with affected people and Government officers in the Borno State capital where they expressed their continued commitment to support government efforts to prop the affected and to rally fresh coffers towards the lifesaving response.
Some 300,000 people have been registered by the Emergency Operations Centre of the Borno State Government in relocation sites mainly in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC), Jere and Konduga Local Government Area.
Many people affected by the floods, reported to be the worst in the last 30 years, had humanitarian needs prior to the floods, having been displaced multiple times by conflict and instability, and are now extremely vulnerable.
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Led by the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, the Senior UN and NGO officials met with the Governor of Borno, Prof Babagana Zulum. They expressed their condolences and solidarity with the government and the people of Borno following the loss of lives and wide destruction caused by the flooding.
The officers visited the Asheik Jarma Primary School and the Yerwa GGSS camps, two of the over 25 relocation sites where displaced people are temporarily settled.
“I witnessed firsthand the desolation and innumerous difficulty caused by the flooding, including the destruction of homes, businesses, and structure. I also saw the suffering of affected communities,” said Mr. Fall.
He said that the wide impact of the floods in MMC and Jere requires a concerted response by the UN
and partners.
“The flood tide affected people are passing a extremity within a extremity with the floods being at the height of a severe food instability and malnutrition extremity,” he said.
Across Nigeria, flooding has damaged over 125,000 hectares of cropland just before harvesrs at a time when 32 million people in the country are facing severe food instability. In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states alone, 4.8 million people are experiencing severe food instability with the lives of 230,000 children hovered by severe acute malnutrition.
Implicit losses of harvests are intimidating given the formerly soaring prices of staplefood, such as maize, beans , sorghum and millet, whose prices have further than tripled over the past year due to record food inflation.
The immediate requirements of affected people in MMC and Jere include food, water and sanitation, hygiene, safe sanctum and protection for the most vulnerable such as separated and lonely children. Drawing on existing resources and in support of Government efforts, the UN in Nigeria and partners are responding by furnishing hot refections, easing food air drops in hard- to- reach areas cut off by flood tide waters,
trucking water and furnishing water and sanitation hygiene services, as well as water sanctification tablets to stem outbreaks of conditions, similar as acute watery diarrhoea/cholera. This in addition to furnishing hygiene/quality accoutrements for women and girls, as well as exigency health and sanctum services, among other lifesaving interventions.
Additional finances are needed urgently to save lives, to ramp up lifesaving assistance, Mr. Fall blazoned the allocation of US$ 6 million from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund, with further backing in the channel bringing the total donation to further than $ 8million.
The Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Zulum, expressed his appreciation to the UN and NGO partners for the philanthropic support to the Government and to the affected people.
“We’re thankful especially for the use of the UN copters to deliver lifesaving backing including food and nonfood
particulars in communities cut off by the flood tide. I also thank the UN for camp coordination and camp operation
support.”
“Our precedence is to rebuild the lives of affected people and to insure that the displaced population does not stay for more than two weeks in the temporary harbors handed for them,” he said.
More resources and backing are demanded not only during this exigency lifesaving phase but also in the recovery phase when people who have lost everything will need sustained support to get back on their bases.
Despite the raising philanthropic requirements, the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Nigeria, seeking
US$ 927 million, is only about 46 per cent funded.
Across Nigeria, floods have affected more than a million people, according to the National Emergency
Management Authority (NEMA). Hard-hit states, besides Borno, including Bauchi, Bayelsa, Enugu, Jigawa, Kano, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara.
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