Maiduguri Residents Face Disease Threat After Major Flood Incident

Residents of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, face a concerning disease threat level after Tuesday’s flooding. This may also complement hunger amid sudden food shortages.

Since the devastating flood hit Maiduguri on Tuesday, at least 30 people have died and over 400,000 have been forced out of their homes, with many still trapped in areas where help has yet to reach.

According to Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Borno, the flood has affected one million people, and there is a likelihood of contagious diseases being spread due to the incident.

As relief efforts continue at a slow pace, the flood not only threatens to unleash a dual crisis of hunger and diseases as Africa has experienced in the past but also marks an upward trend of many resulting problems.
Hunger and Food Security
Kashim Shettima, Nigeria’s vice president, visited some of Borno’s displaced people on Tuesday evening and promised to provide them with food, shelter, and medicine. But a day later, only a few supplies had reached those people. The reason for this is not unknown, given that this is not the first time the Alau Dam has collapsed and caused severe problems for the people of Maiduguri.

When the same dam collapsed in September 1994, over 400,000 people were displaced. Measures to prevent a reoccurrence of the dam’s collapse and prevent the resulting consequences, especially hunger and a water-borne epidemic, were never put in place.
In regions like Maiduguri, where agriculture is the mainstay of the people, the aftermath of flooding spells doom because of its harsh effect on farmlands.

In Delta State, for instance, after intense rainfall and the opening of the Lagdo Dam in northern Cameroon spurred the heavy flooding in 2022, food became scarce as many farmlands with unharvested farm produce were destroyed. Farmers were displaced, and their stored farm produce alongside their livestock washed away to ruin. The result was a food crisis that left many in need of humanitarian aid. States like Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Taraba, Adamawa Anambra, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Imo experienced a shortage of rice after the 2012 flooding in Nigeria.
A similar fate may befall Maiduguri. As a vulnerable place due to the longstanding conflict in the northern region, food staples would become increasingly expensive for the displaced people who are already numbering close to a million. This could lead to widespread hunger if the government does not step in with relief and environmental efforts effectively.
Diseases
Flooding tends to lead to an outbreak of diseases, and the current situation in Maiduguri seems to be a perfect avenue for the spread of many water-borne diseases, given its history of significant public challenges with outbreaks of malaria, cholera and measles.

Governor Zulum already told reporters on Wednesday that “you can see how water completely flooded the area; sewerages were completely flooded, which means waterborne diseases would be transmitted”.

An assessment report by Mentor Initiative in 2020 shows that malaria, cholera, and other diarrheal diseases are already endemic to Borno. With much of Maiduguri underwater, as reported by NEMA, access to clean drinking water is compromised.

If floodwater contaminates drinking sources, it could lead to a cholera outbreak in camps where people are living in unsanitary conditions. Stagnant water also becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes, increasing the risk of malaria infections.

Floods in Kenya raised the risk of waterborne diseases, according to Doctors Without Borders, in the East African country in 2024 too.

Humanitarian Responses
Before the collapse of the Alau Dam, which led to the flooding and subsequent displacements in Maiduguri, Borno had received N762 million in budgetary allocations in the last 12 years. But the dam has remained in poor shape despite these allocations.

Now, the House of Representatives has offered to approve more funds for Borno to address the fresh flood disaster in Maiduguri. This would add to the N3 billion the Federal Government earlier promised states currently affected by the 2024 floods.

Camps for internally displaced persons have begun to emerge to accommodate survivors of the flood in Borno. NEMA has promised more palliative relief.
However, there are concerns about the new displaced persons in Maiduguri may be left to struggle to eat and fend of sickness if government agencies cannot sustain aid to check infections and food shortages.