This flooding wahala in my native land


This flooding wahala in my native land

Environmental disasters are natural occurrences. Preventable at times. Sometimes, unavoidable.

Nigeria is blessed with good weather, climate conditions, and less extreme natural disasters when set side-by-side with some Asian, African, and North American countries.

This has made ecological and environmental issues the cynosure of contemporary debate: a debate that has transmogrified into political debacle and devastation by the recent exchanges by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN). In any case, let these parties know that as they fight, they grass is suffering.

The concern of all should be on the immediate and long-term fallout of the recent flooding and the much anticipated one if the West Camerounian Lake Nyos disintegrates as has been predicted by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). According to NEMA, if Lake Nyos opens up, states like Akwa Ibom,Cross River, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Anambra, Kogi, Adamawa and other riverside areas will be hugely affected, if not swallowed (Imagine a Katrina in these states). So, the question is: what plans will our government put in place to curtail, contain, and/or control the anticipated harm this might result into.

But let us face that of today. What we do today in Lokoja, Asaba, and adjoining areas where this current flood has ravaged homes and displaced thousands of people will highlight what we will do tomorrow in the states mentioned above.

Our immediate concern, since we failed to mitigate against the flood itself, must be the health hazards this might have created or will create in the not too far future. There are psycho-social implications to this flood too.

Though not a warfare scenario, exposure to flooding results into post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), somatization, distress, anxiety, and other mental health matters. If Nigerians experience this, can our degrading or degraded healthcare clinics and hospitals contain the outcome? Depression and isolation are not far-fetched from long-term and immediate effects.

There will be a long term detrimental effect to this environmental disaster in Nigeria. With clean-ups (which is less likely in my native land), and no clean-ups after flooding, exposure to contaminants, moulds, mildews, and toxic substances are certainties. Carbon monoxide poisoning, electrocution, burns, hypothermia, car breakdowns are not left out from the laundry lists of woes women, men, children, elderly, young, sick, and healthy will be faced to brace.

Epidemiological studies have shown that diseases could be transmitted via fecal-oral route (nonspecific diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, and typhoid), mosquito biting, and zoonotic bacterial disease. Conjunctivitis and ear, nose, and throat infections will astronomically be on the increase. These might be our fate if we do not act.

So what is our Ministry of Health doing? What are the long term plans for checking flooding excesses in my native land? 21st Nigeria should be monitoring these disasters digitally and not relying on NASA or other foreign satellite resources. Where is our SAT 1 or 11? Hope to hearing from you soon.


Reference

 

Mason, V., Andrews, H., & Upton, D. (2010). The psychological impact of exposure to floods. Psychology, Health, & Medicine, 15(1), 61-73.

Metts, T.A. (2008). Addressing environmental health implications of mold exposure after major flooding. Continuing Education, 56(3), 115-122.

Morgan, O., Ahern, M. & Cairncross, S. (2005). Revisiting the Tsunami: health consequences of flooding. PLos Medicine, 2(6), 0491-0493. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020184.

Ogbodo, J., & Falaju, J. (2012). Fears of flooding still as NEMA predicts collapse of Lake Nyos. The Nigerian Guardian Newspapers Retrieved from http://www.nigeriannews.com/

Odufuwa, B.O., Adedeji, O.H., Oladesu, J. O., & Bongwa, A. (2012). Floods of fury in Nigerian cities. Journal of Sustainable Development, 5(7), 69-79.

Ohl, C.A. (2000). Flooding and human health: the dangers posed are not always obvious. BMJ, 321:1167-1168.

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