NEMA issues flood alert in five Kwara LGs

• Published On: 25 June 2024 at 19:28

As the rainy season approaches, the National Emergency Management Agency warned the people of Kwara State on Tuesday that high and moderate flooding was likely to occur in five of the local government areas in the state.

The alert was issued in Ilorin during the 2024 state-level flood early warning system downscaling by NEMA Director-General Mrs. Zubaida Umar.

She mentioned Pategi, Edu, Kaiama, Asa, and Baruten as Local Government Areas with high and moderate flood risk.

The DG, however, urged the Kwara Government to take proactive steps to lessen flooding in the state. The DG was represented by Mr. Daniel Obot, Director of Disaster Risk Reduction at NEMA.

She emphasised how crucial the plan is for taking decisive action early on to save lives and livelihoods during the rainy season.

She claims that some Local Government Areas in Kwara are still expected to experience flooding during the 2024 rainy season.

According to Umar, this emphasises the need for support and flag-off of the endeavour to reduce the frequency of early warnings about flooding and risk mitigation messages sent to the general public.


She cited the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook from the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency, stating that 31 States and 148 LGAs were expected to be in the high-risk area for flooding.

She also mentioned that 249 LGAs in 35 States, including the Federal Capital Territory, are thought to be within the current flood danger areas.

Forecasts indicate that 377 LGAs remain in the low flood risk areas. The degree of sensitivity of these flood risk zones is provided to governments at all levels as a tool for developing risk reduction strategies to prevent disaster losses during this rainy season.

"In a similar vein, early action strategies will be used to establish mechanisms for disaster preparedness and risk reduction in the agriculture and food security, education, health, transportation, and persecution security sectors, among others, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)."

Professor Saba Mamman-Jubril, the Secretary to the State Government, praised the Agency's initiative in his response.

At the ceremony, Jubril, who was representing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, gave advice on the necessity of building a levee or dyke, which is an embankment built along a riverbank or coastal shoreline to stop floodwaters from flowing onto land.

He saw that to reduce the risk of flooding in communities, more buffers needed to be built, more dredging needed to be done, and more aforestation needed to be done.


Alhaji Ibrahim Olatunji, Oba of Jebba Abdulkadir Adebara's personal assistant, made a plea to the state government to move residents in riverine towns in order to save their lives.

Alhaji Gana Lukpadu, the Ciroma of Patigi, also bemoaned the fact that each year floods worsens the situation in the town.

He calls on all levels of government to come up with long-term fixes for the state's and the country's flooding problems.