An environmental expert and Chief Executive Officer of Engineering and Environmental Management Services Limited (EEMS Limited), Dr Mamoud Bello Abubakar, has called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to move beyond reactive emergency response and adopt a more anticipatory, climate-resilient approach to managing recurring floods in the capital.
In a press statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, Dr Abubakar, a chemical engineer and environmental and social safeguards specialist, said the flooding currently affecting parts of the FCT should not be viewed simply as a rainfall problem, but as the result of a convergence of factors including climate change, rapid urbanisation, encroachment on natural drainage corridors, poor waste disposal, and weaknesses in development control and infrastructure maintenance.
‘Abuja’s continuing expansion and changing climate require us to move progressively from a predominantly reactive approach towards anticipatory, risk-informed and climate-resilient urban management,’ he said, while commending the FCTA, the FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD) and other agencies for their ongoing flood sensitisation and emergency preparedness efforts.
He identified development on floodplains and waterways, inadequate drainage capacity in fast-growing districts, blocked drains, rising impervious surfaces from urban construction, and poor coordination among planning, environmental and emergency agencies as key drivers of the city’s vulnerability to flooding.
He proposed a six-point programme for the FCTA, beginning with comprehensive flood-risk and drainage assessments using hydrological modelling and GIS mapping to identify high-risk areas.
Other recommendations include mapping and protecting floodplains, natural waterways, green areas and drainage corridors; enforcing development-control regulations consistently; upgrading drainage infrastructure on a catchment-wide basis; mandating hydrological assessments for major development approvals; and strengthening community-level early-warning and evacuation systems.
Dr Abubakar also appealed to residents and businesses to stop dumping waste into drains and waterways, while developers must comply strictly with approved planning and environmental requirements, stressing that flood resilience ‘requires shared responsibility’ between government, developers and the public.
He described the FCTA’s ongoing infrastructure renewal programme as an opportunity to embed climate resilience into the city’s development, saying the goal should be to prevent flooding where possible and manage it ‘without catastrophic consequences’ where it cannot be avoided.