The Federal Government has said that Nigeria lost N4.2 trillion due to the 2022 floods which ravaged various parts of the country.
The 2022 flooding in Nigeria was one of the country’s most severe flooding disasters since 2012.
The country’s ministry of humanitarian affairs said over 3.2 million people have been affected; with more than 600 deaths recorded.
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The federal government report shows that the flood disaster destroyed hundreds of farmlands, while thousands of houses were submerged in different states across the country.
According to the Federal Government Data, the floods had displaced over 1.4 million people, killed over 603 people and injured more than 2,400 persons.
About 82,035 houses had been damaged, and 332,327 hectares of land had also been affected.
However, the Minister, Haija Sadiya Farouq, said the impact of last year’s flood is unimaginable, stressing that the flood in various parts of Nigeria led to an estimated economic loss of $9.12bn (N4.2tn as at Friday’s official exchange rate of N460.78/$).
The Minister made this known on Friday during a post-disaster assessment report on the 2022 flooding by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
Farouq explained that the number of persons affected rose above 4.9 million as of November 25, 2022, with significant damage to infrastructure, including roads, irrigation and river, as well as electricity projects, with around $1.23bn ($0.959 – $1.724bn) in damage expected.
It read in part, “This analysis estimates that the total direct economic damages, based on currently reported statistics as of November 25, 2022, are in the range of $3.79bn to $9.12bn, with the best (median) estimate at $6.68bn.
“This includes damages to residential and non-residential buildings (including building contents), as well as damages to infrastructure, productive sectors and to crop land.”
Farouq further explained that the GRADE Note was a fast first-order approximation of the economic impact, and provided a rapid high-level estimate of damages used to inform ongoing decisions in a timely fashion.
“It was developed using the empirical data defined in this document, calibrated against historical data and experience, including the 2012 Nigeria Floods (Post-Disaster Needs Assessment). The period of analysis is from June 2022 to November, 25, 2022,” the minister stated.
She called on the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons to utilise the GRADE assessment to plan the recovery and rehabilitation of victims of the flood.