Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has presented the Global Rapid (Post Disaster) Damage Estimation (GRADE) Assessment report of the 2022 flood situation in Nigeria, with Nigeria losing an estimated $6.68 billion.
Farouq, in her presentation at a media conference weekend, explained that some of the critical findings of the GRADE were that all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory were affected by the 2022 floods in Nigeria, with varying degrees of damages and people affected.
“This analysis estimates that the total direct economic damages, based on currently reported statistics as of 25th November 2022, are in the range of $3.79 billion to $9.12 billion, with the best (median) estimated at $6.68 billion.”
The minister explained that the damages included croplands, infrastructure, and residential and non-residential buildings, among others.
She stated that the report was earlier presented to President Muhammadu Buhari, who approved the needed intervention to assist victims of the 2022 floods across the country.
She said the objective of the GRADE, developed by the World Bank’s Disaster-Resilience Analytics and Solutions (D-RAS) team, was to assess the economic impacts of the flood that ravaged Nigeria between June and November 2022.
“Estimated median damages are thus generally lower than the 2012 assessment (PDNA), but some localised areas may have experienced greater impacts than in 2012 and past seasons such as 2018.”
Also, Farouq stressed that over 4.9 million people were affected by the flood as of November 2022, an increase from the 4.4 recorded in June.
“In terms of destroyed and damaged buildings, there is significant damage in many states, with counting still ongoing.
In his remarks earlier, the permanent secretary in the ministry, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, said Ms Farouq approved soliciting the World Bank’s support at the peak of the flooding period in 2022 to assist the ministry in coming up with an assessment.
