CLIMA

Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) is sparing no efforts in mitigating flood risk in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Whether across the labyrinth of the sprawling city or through the thickets of its precincts, it is a task that must be done! And with precision, too. In this video, a stopover scene during a reconnaissance visit to a site of a proposed flood control infrastructure at a location in Akinyele LGA of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. 😎😍✌

 

 

  Over the years, I had often read in newspapers about calamities caused by flooding and it usually sounded fictional because I had not witnessed a real-life scenario. Looking back now, I think we often underrate some things to be grateful for. The reality of my experience was mind-numbing. On Monday, 28 th June, 2021, I had left my workplace somewhat around 4:30pm hoping to get home early before it rained because it was cloudy.  Needless to say, the traffic that evening was terrible as everyone was trying to get home before the downpour. Unfortunately, it started raining before I arrived my destination. I had boarded a Safeboda bike but the rider had to end the trip because it was raining so hard that it started raining hailstones which I later learnt had not happened for many years back. By the time the rain stopped, it was 7:00pm and I was completely drenched from head to toe. I got another rider, this time a regular bike man, who I told I was going to Kuola. Mid-way, I s...

In this video, a Community Leader in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria canvasses imbibing proper waste disposal as a panacea for mitigating perennial flood risk in the ancient city. Among other things, his submission shows a high level of awareness among the community people about the relationship between dumping wastes into the waterways and incidents of flash floods. What remains, however, is for this awareness to translate into belief and action amongst residents and other stakeholders. That way, the statistics of perennial flood events in Ibadan might be on the downward trend.  

Once the dry season sets in, residents of Ibadan, currently adjudged Nigeria’s third largest metropolitan city, enjoy some measure of relief, borne out of the fact that the fear of flooding is kept at bay, at least while the dry season lasts. This is based on the fact that Ibadan has witnessed massive flooding over the years, with the first officially recorded one being in 1951. Since then, there have been sporadic flooding incidents plaguing the sprawling city, with attendant tragic after-effects on lives and property. While there were more floods in the 1980s than in the preceding decades, perhaps the worst flooding episode was the one that took place on 26 th August, 2011 which destroyed most of the strategic, flood-channeling hydraulic structures in the ancient city, in addition to colossal loss of human and animal lives. According to a report titled “ The August 2011 Flood in Ibadan, Nigeria: Anthropogenic Causes and Consequences ” by a team of experts commissioned by the Oyo ...