In 2022, Nigeria experienced severe flooding which led to loss of lives, destruction of properties, and closure of businesses.
However, one area that is often neglected is the impact of floods on the education sector, particularly in rural communities.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) puts the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria at 20 million. However, flooding has made access to school even worse at the moment, sparking fears that this number could rise further this year.
In Ondo State, the 2022 flooding sacked schools at Kelema community. The Principal, Mrs. Ugbosanmi Oluwafunmilayo, lamented that the students had to come to school through make-shift bridges. She said several parents withdrew their wards after floods took over the school building.
Students enrollment dropped from 300 to 140 in 2022 in the country due to the flooding crisis.
Different reports also detailed how flooding sacked communities, preventing students from accessing their schools.
Educational institutions have also been reported to be under water due to incessant flooding.
In 2022, the Bayelsa State government was forced to announce a shutdown of 18 schools due to heavy flooding, with the government noting that this was necessary to safeguard the lives of students and teachers.
The community secondary school in Rumuapara, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers, was taken over by flooding recently.
Other states, such as Anambra and Delta, have not been left out of the devastating effect of floods on their schools.
In Ondo State, a secondary school principal told Dataphyte how his students were asked to stay at home when floods sacked its building.
Some of the respondents who spoke with Dataphyte noted that there was no government intervention after the 2022 floods. In Ondo State, a principal of one of the affected schools lamented government neglect and said students would need to stay away from at least three months due to the situation.
A Dataphyte report recently raised questions on the management of the N64 billion ecological fund received by states between 2021 and 2022, a fund meant to mitigate impacts of flood.
Urgent situation
A climate change advocate, Mr Dare Akogun, told Dataphyte that it was important for states and the Federal Government to mitigate the impacts of climate change on the education system.
“Nigeria needs to be intentional about navigating the impact of floods on schools. That way, we can keep more people in school and ensure that people are not denied knowledge.”
He wondered why the government was asking that people and schools relocate but failing to make provisions for where they would move to.
“Government usually asks that people in flood-prone areas relocate, but to where?” he asked.
Director of Waterwide, Mr Wilson Atumeyi, said there was a need for accountability on funds allocated to flood-related issues.
He charged states to be transparent and open their books to boost the confidence of organisatins that might be willing to support them in the future.
This report was produced in fulfillment of the UNESCO & CIJ London Climate Change in News Media project facilitated by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development.