- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Government has warned of heavy flooding across 1,249 communities in 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, gave the warning during the unveiling of the 2025 Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) in Abuja on Thursday.
According to the Utsev, the flood outlook predicted high flood risk to ravage 1,249 communities in 176 Local Government Areas in the 30 states and the FCT.
However, a moderate flood risk is predicted to hit 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs across the 36 states of the country, including the FCT.
“The 2025 Annual Flood Outlook shows that 1,249 communities in 176 Local Government Areas in 30 States and FCT fall within the High Flood Risk Areas, while 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs in 36 states of the federation and the FCT fall within the Moderate Flood Risk Areas,” Utsev stated.
The high flood-risk states as highlighted in the report include Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.
While noting that the predictions were made using a new and effective approach to flood forecasting mechanism, the Minister harped on the need to make such early warning.
“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.
“Recognizing 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 disclosed several projects which has been initiated ahead of the flooding.
These include 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; 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.