FG Says Nigeria Lost N3trn During 2022 Flood

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, has disclosed that the total direct economic damage of the 2022 flooding, based on currently reported statistics as of November 25 was in the range of US$3.79 billion to US$9.12 billion with the best (median) estimated at US$6.68 billion (N3 trillion).

Speaking over the weekend in Abuja, during the public presentation of the GRADE report, she said the damage included residential and non-residential buildings (and building contents), as well as damage to infrastructure, productive sectors, and cropland.

She said the estimated median damages were generally lower than the 2012 assessment (PDNA), but some localised areas had experienced greater impacts than in 2012, and past seasons such as 2018.

Farouk said the number of people affected had risen since June 2022 up to 4.4 million, and as at November 25 4.9 million affected people were recorded which was around 2% of the country’s population.

“In terms of destroyed and damaged buildings, there is significant damage in many states, with counting still ongoing. There is significant damage to infrastructure including roads, irrigation and river infrastructure as well as WASH and electricity infrastructure with around $1.23 billion ($0.959-$1.724 billion) in damage expected,” she also said.

According to her, the damage to agricultural crops, associated water infrastructure, fisheries and livestock was also severe.

She noted that the worst affected states were Jigawa, Rivers, Taraba, Cross River, Bayelsa and Delta.

Farouk explained that over 650,000 hectares of crops were reportedly damaged, with modeling, hence, other reports suggested that it would increase past 1,000,000 hectares damaged or destroyed.

“The median estimate of these damages is around $1.837 billion with a significant range ($526 million – $2.473 billion) given changing yields, damage ratios, replanting possibilities, and uncertainties in market values of crops, livestock, and fisheries,” she said.

On his part, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Nasir Sani Gwarzo, said since June 2022, heavy rainfall led to serious flooding, with numbers of the population affected and houses damaged/ destroyed, stressing that the situation was worse than the 2012 flooding in some localized areas.

He said all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were impacted, with varying degrees of damage and people affected.