The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has reported a significant decline in flood-related casualties and overall impact across Nigeria in 2025, attributing the improvement to enhanced mitigation strategies, early warning systems, and stronger inter-agency coordination.
The agency disclosed that 241 lives were lost to flooding in 2025, a sharp reduction compared to the over 1,000 deaths recorded in 2024, reflecting what officials described as the positive outcome of proactive disaster management efforts.
This was made known by NEMA’s Assistant Director of Planning, Dapo Akingboade, during an after-action review of climate-related disasters held in Abuja, where stakeholders assessed the country’s response to flooding and mapped out strategies for future preparedness.
Presenting a comparative analysis, Akingboade revealed that more than five million people were affected by flooding in 2024, while the figure dropped significantly to fewer than 500,000 in 2025. He also noted a substantial reduction in the number of displaced persons, which declined from over one million in 2024 to about 58,000 in 2025.
According to him, the scale of flooding also reduced geographically, with 27 states affected across 128 local government areas in 2025, compared to 35 states impacted the previous year, indicating an overall improvement in national response and preparedness levels.
Akingboade attributed the gains largely to the early release and effective dissemination of weather forecasts by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), as well as deliberate efforts to translate early warning messages into major Nigerian languages to ensure they reached communities at the grassroots level.
He explained that the ability of local populations to understand and act on these warnings played a crucial role in reducing casualties and limiting the impact of flooding across vulnerable regions.
Despite the progress recorded, the NEMA official highlighted several persistent challenges that continue to hinder disaster response efforts, including poor maintenance of drainage systems, resistance by residents in high-risk areas to evacuate despite warnings, and limited accessibility to certain communities during peak flooding periods.
He stressed the need for state governments to take greater responsibility by activating and implementing their local contingency plans, while also prioritizing urban drainage management as part of efforts to further reduce flood risks in the 2026 rainy season.
Also speaking at the event, Assistant Chief Meteorologist at NiMet, Abubakar Sadiq, provided insights into the agency’s weather forecasting performance, stating that it achieved approximately 74 per cent accuracy in rainfall predictions for 2025.
He disclosed that the agency is working towards improving the reliability of its forecasts through the adoption of more objective and automated forecasting systems, particularly in response to the increasing unpredictability associated with climate change.
Addressing recent unusual weather patterns observed in the Federal Capital Territory, Sadiq explained that the phenomenon was caused by “extra-tropical features,” specifically a mid-latitude trough moving through West Africa, which facilitated the movement of moisture deep into inland areas.
According to him, such weather systems are capable of extending moisture influence as far as northern cities like Kano and Maiduguri, thereby affecting rainfall patterns across wide geographical areas.
On inter-agency collaboration, Sadiq noted that NiMet and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) have been working closely using the Standardised Precipitation Index, a globally recognized tool for monitoring drought and flood risks, to harmonize their data and improve early warning systems.
He added that NiMet has also expanded its scope to include climate-related health forecasting, providing early predictions on the potential spread of diseases such as malaria and meningitis based on temperature and humidity patterns expected in early 2026.
Earlier, NEMA’s Director of Planning, Research and Forecasting, Godwin Tepikor, explained that the inclusion of the 2025 After Action Review in the meeting was intentional, as it provided an opportunity to assess past responses and extract lessons that would strengthen future interventions.
He noted that the technical session was designed not only to evaluate previous disaster responses but also to analyse projections for 2026 and develop strategies aimed at mitigating the impact of flooding across the country.
The meeting brought together key stakeholders from various sectors, including government agencies, security institutions, humanitarian organisations, and development partners, all of whom contributed to discussions focused on improving Nigeria’s overall disaster preparedness and response framework.
The agency maintained that while the reduction in casualties and displacement figures marks a significant achievement, sustained efforts, stronger community compliance, and improved infrastructure will be critical in consolidating these gains and further minimizing the impact of floods in the coming years.
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