Due to the negative impact of climate change, Nigeria has lost N5.3 trillion to the flood which ravaged many states in 2022, the federal government has said.
Politics Nigeria learnt the 2022 flood affected the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory.
However, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development named Jigawa, Rivers, Taraba, Cross River and Delta as the five worst flood affected states in the country in a recent released report.
The federal government said the 2022 flood was the worst case witnessed in the country since 2012.
In a related development, Vice President Kashim Shettima said at an event that the flood resulted in a $7 billion loss.
At the official Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate of N762 to $1, it stood at over N5trn.
Recounting the 2022 economic lost Shettima at an event organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said the flood showed climate change at its worst for the country.
Shettima was represented by the deputy chief of staff, Ibrahim Hassan.
“We are all living witnesses to the ravaging floods of last year (2022), which held the country to a standstill for days,” he said.
“With the World Bank’s Global Rapid post-disaster damage estimation assessment, the total direct economic damage to infrastructure to be about $7 billion, that was climate change at its worst for the country.
“This amount is equivalent to 1.6 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 2021 Gross Domestic Product, not including the loss of over 600 lives.”
Shettima said climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today, adding that Nigeria’s economy is yet to recover from its loss in 2022.
“Nigeria is ranked as one of the 10 most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change in the world, even as a developing nation in the global south,” he added.
