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MOKWA FLOODING DISASTER IS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON THAT IS TREATED WITH LOCAL SOLUTIONS

Climate change, global warming, rising temperatures are existential global threats that affect the world disproportionately despite who is pumping the largest amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. The Mokwa flooding that has so far claimed almost 200 avoidable deaths solutions should not stop at the usual extension of humanitarian assistance to the victims but approximate the desired risk analysis and research to avoid similar experience. As NIMET again predicted 3 days of rain and thunderstorms, I wonder if their entire predictions index the dire health of the world glaciers that has lost almost 40% of their total mass and is already doomed. The sad reality is such that even if temperatures stop rising immediately, a new study has found the doom will not stop.Consequently, it is essential that NIMET with the right of passage for predictions of weather conditions need to approximate researchers estimate that glaciers will eventually lose 39% of their mass relative to 2020 situation. This will be highly incidental to the more than 310 dams and surrounding communities who do not understand the philosophy and theories of NIMET predictions. What they so desire is for the moment of disaster not to meet them helplessly. In my honest opinion, Nigerians will thank response agencies for the lives they saved than for the humanitarian assistance delivered after each disaster cycles. NIMET need to be concerned that this trend of massive flooding is already irreversible particularly around the Sahel and Equator because almost every meeting on climate change in the world today have lobbyists from fossil fuel companies sending hundreds to global talks meant to reduce carbon emissions and plastic pollution as they make huge profits from the conversation of fossil fuels to plastics. No matter what comes next in action against climate change and global warming in the world, 40% glacier melting will likely contribute a 113 mm rise to global sea level. A situation that will worsen the flooding in countries like Nigeria with 2 major rivers of the world; Niger and Benue and 340 dams. Therefore, the response agencies need to be conscious that the loss of the glaciers will rise to 76% if the world continues its current climate policies which will likely fail to keep global warming under 1.5▪︎c according to a paper published in the Journal of Science.This is because polluters make billions turning oil into plastics and will do everything possible to weaken the rules. Nigeria need to brace up for more flooding disasters since Polluters are writing our climate rules. AIR VICE MARSHAL (RTD) AKUGBE IYAMUPRESIDENT ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE PRACTITIONERS You can follow me on Twitter X @iyamuclimatech1 and Instagram iyamuclimatechange. You can also send your views to iyamukenneth65@gmail.com or 07057447442 (messages only)

FLOODS DEVASTATE MOKWA IN NIGER STATE, AT LEAST 111 PEOPLE CONFIRMED DEAD

At least 111 people have lost their lives in central Nigeria after severe floods submerged the market town of Mokwa in Niger State. The disaster occurred following torrential rains that lasted for several hours on Thursday, with reports suggesting a dam collapse in a nearby town exacerbated the situation. The flooding has displaced a significant number of people, with rescuers continuing to find more bodies into Friday afternoon. Initially, reports indicated 88 deaths, but Niger State emergency agency spokesman Ibrahim Audu Husseini confirmed that at least 23 more bodies were discovered, bringing the toll to 111. However, this number may rise as search efforts persist. “More bodies have just been brought and are yet to be counted, but we have at least 111 confirmed already,” Husseini said in a telephone conversation. Mokwa, located approximately 220 kilometers west of Abuja, serves as a crucial meeting point for traders from the south to purchase food from northern growers. The town’s flooding highlights Nigeria’s vulnerability to seasonal floods, particularly in communities along the Niger and Benue Rivers. The chairman of Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, attributed the flood’s devastating impact to poor infrastructure. He urged the government to initiate the “long overdue” construction of waterways in Mokwa under a climate resilience project. This disaster echoes a similar incident last September, where torrential rains and a dam collapse in Maiduguri resulted in severe flooding, claiming at least 30 lives and displacing millions. The humanitarian crisis in the region was further worsened by the Boko Haram insurgency. As the situation continues to unfold, concerns about climate change and infrastructure development remain paramount. The Nigerian government faces growing pressure to address these issues and mitigate the impact of future floods.

MOKWA FLOODING AND NIGERIA SIMPLISTIC APPROACH TO FLOOD DISASTER MANAGEMENT

The World Meteorological Organisation has predicted that the next five years will be very hot and one of the years will be the hottest in history exceeding 2.0▪︎c. This will be very consequential for ice and glacier in the future. Year after year, flooding remains one biggest challenge to the country not just for the spectacle but for what it represents, where the climate crisis is headed, who is at the centre of it and what stories are being told through preparation, responses and management. This is particularly affirming with citizens that are no longer waiting for the unfulfilled promises of response but are showing up at the national stage with their narratives. Now the issue of climate change is meeting Nigeria where we are with little insight and something that will make us to think. Nations dont just happen, it is an outcome of serious thinking, vision, clarity of thought and hard work. That is the reason till tomorrow, no Israeli citizen would sell out no matter the cost because everyone knows what is required to keep the country going because every Israeli MDAs and by implications the Israeli authorities response to citizens challenges absolutely and adequately. The Mokwa issue where more than 20 people were said to have lost their lives again is a test case whether our response capacity know what backward countries should know and do if they must prepare for the impending threat of climate change. The era of predictions and warnings including speeches that vulnerable communities can’t adequately comprehend nor understand the impact of the theories marshalled out in those predictions and warnings shows that the decay continues. Past community failures of disaster response agencies may be the unusual trend, but now, remorse and penitance should wheel these response agencies to the corridor of empathy. With considerable justification like the mokwa episode, Nigeria need some noble ideas to deal with the issue of flooding because people are subjects and not just passive objects of development. It is very easy to take preparation and planning for granted but events of the past years shows that it is important to nurture them in every flooding cycle. 2012 and other important landmark events of flooding should provoke deep introspection but has turned out to be a jamboree of lavish waste of public funds. In places where there is order, the response agencies are forward thinking about preventing the catastrophic effects of flooding on the citizens. Such care and empathy stir up citizens soul for the simple fact that citizens are involved and taken seriously.Every year in Nigeria, flooding becomes worrisome and dismissive events that reduce the lives of countless Nigerians to a mere blemish of our national sensational lense of planning and execution leading to aesthetic embarrassment and irritation. What has invariably become clear over the years is that public faith in predictions and responses of agencies as emergency management rite of passage for Nigerian citizens in disaster management and a key pillar for saving lives and livelihoods in the country has been seriously disfigured. The response agencies have to work to regain the trust of Nigerians because they are operating from years of forced penitance without the fear of God and Nigerians are watching the watchers and reviewing the reviewers. AIR VICE MARSHAL (RTD ) AKUGBE IYAMUPRESIDENT ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE PRACTITIONERS. For more conversation follow me on Twitter X @iyamuclimatech1 and Instagram iyamuclimatechange. You can send your views to iyamukenneth65@gmail.com and 07057447442 ( messages only)