President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the immediate release of ₦15 billion as part of urgent efforts to prevent what experts warn could be a devastating flood disaster in Nigeria.
The announcement was made by Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday during a national workshop on flood risk monitoring and coordination, held at the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Abuja.
According to Shettima, the funds will support proactive strategies by relevant government agencies to prepare for potential flooding, which has become a recurring nightmare for many Nigerians during the rainy season.
“The President has directed all relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to work together and come up with coordinated strategies to mitigate the effects of the anticipated flooding,” Shettima said.
He emphasized that President Tinubu’s administration is committed to moving away from the country’s long-standing reactive approach to natural disasters and toward a system built on early warning and preemptive action.
“Last year alone, floods affected over five million people, displaced 2.3 million Nigerians, and destroyed more than 450,000 hectares of farmland,” Shettima stated. “It forced 1.2 million children out of school and pushed our economy further to the edge.”
He explained that Nigeria loses nearly five percent of its GDP annually to disaster-related damage, largely due to delayed responses and poor planning.
The newly introduced Anticipatory Action Framework will focus on three strategic pillars:
Early Warning Systems – Powered by satellite data and grassroots communication networks to deliver life-saving information in real time.
Pre-triggered Financing – Ensuring that funds are made available before disaster strikes, enabling faster and more effective response.
Localized Preparedness – Empowering communities and state actors as frontline responders, not just aid recipients.
Shettima cited a recent success story in Benue State, where trained volunteers used early alerts to safely evacuate over 80,000 people within 72 hours.
“This shows that early warning works when it’s trusted and actionable,” he said.
To implement the framework, a dedicated trigger group made up of national agencies like NiMet, NEMA, and NASRDA, along with international partners like UNOCHA, WFP, and the Red Cross, will combine meteorological and hydrological data to issue forecasts 10–14 days in advance.
Also speaking at the event, National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu stressed the importance of harmonizing flood response coordination and commended the task force working to operationalize the anticipatory framework.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Inna Audu, Special Assistant to the President on Humanitarian Affairs and Development Partners, emphasized that the workshop marked a turning point in how Nigeria approaches disaster preparedness.
“The time for piecemeal responses is over,” she said. “This is about building a resilient nation where data, people, and policy work together.”
Representatives from the European Union, civil society organizations, development partners, and the private sector also delivered goodwill messages and pledged their support.
As Nigeria braces for another rainy season, the question remains whether this bold anticipatory move will finally turn the tide in the country’s battle against devastating floods.
