The Federal Government has announced that the direct economic damage caused by floods in Nigeria in 2022 amounts to $7 billion. Additionally, the tragic event resulted in the loss of over 600 lives.
Officials have labeled this calamity as the most severe manifestation of climate change impact in Nigeria.
Vice President Kashim Shettima shared these distressing figures during an event held in Abuja for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Vice President’s message was conveyed by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Hassan.
He said, “We are all living witnesses to the ravaging floods of last year (2022), which held the country to a standstill for days. The World Bank’s Global Rapid post-disaster damage estimation assessment put the total direct economic damage to infrastructure to be about $7bn.
“This is equivalent to 1.6 percent of Nigeria’s estimated 2021 Gross Domestic Product, not including the loss of over 600 lives. For Nigeria, that was climate change at its worst.”
Shettima said climate change was the biggest challenge facing humanity today.
He said, “Even as a developing nation in the global south, Nigeria is gravely impacted by the negative effects of climate change. For instance, Nigeria is ranked as one of the 10 most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change in the world.
“This is despite our negligible contribution to overall global carbon emissions responsible for climate change. In fact, Africa as a whole, accounts for less than four percent of total global carbon emissions.”
The Vice President said a lot of people from the North-Eastern part of Nigeria, including himself, bore the scars of climate change effects, and had to live with its impacts.
He outlined some of the impacts including drought and desertification, disruption of rainfall patterns, leading to sandstorms, severe floods, and destruction of farmlands, infrastructure, and human settlements.
