When the clouds gathered above Mokwa firstly of the 2025 wet season, nobody reached for a climate almanack; the townspeople wanted solely reminiscence. That they had seen the river climb its banks earlier than, had watched water swirl down gullies that doubled as garbage dumps, and had heard radio callers warn—nearly cheerfully—that nature’s annual rehearsal was underway. What that they had not felt was the feeling of real security. So, when the torrents lastly broke their modest data, they landed on a spot that had already surrendered its defences.
“Many had been stuffed with silt, others narrowed by unlawful buildings, and nearly all have been incapable of dealing with the quantity of rain pushed by climate-induced excessive climate occasions.”
Mokwa was by no means merely a location on a map; it was a warning signal blinking for years. The tragedy that unfolded in June 2025, claiming over 1,300 lives—together with 700 kids—was not a bolt from the blue. It was the inevitable results of continual neglect, dysfunctional planning, and a harmful tradition of silence. Whole households disappeared. Houses, colleges, companies, and a vital part of Nigeria’s railway infrastructure have been annihilated. But this devastation was neither mysterious nor unintentional. It was a recognized danger that was allowed to fester.
Lengthy earlier than the flood, specialists had flagged Mokwa as a high-risk space. Ecologists had pointed to the delicate river methods and deforested buffers.
Meteorologists had issued forecasts highlighting altering rainfall patterns pushed by local weather change. City planners had warned that the unchecked unfold of casual settlements, lots of which have been constructed immediately on floodplains, was a catastrophe ready to occur. However the alarms have been met with bureaucratic shrugs. No concerted response, no clear regulatory enforcement, no critical public communication. For years, federal, state, and native governments took turns ignoring the looming menace, focusing as a substitute on short-term political expediency over long-term danger discount, turning what ought to have been manageable seasonal flooding right into a deadly catastrophe.
When the rain lastly got here, it did what water at all times does: it adopted the trail of least resistance. River Dingi, a seasonal tributary usually dry exterior the wet season, reworked right into a violent, swelling pressure. The pure channels it as soon as used had been blocked by building and waste.
The drainage methods designed a long time in the past had lengthy ceased to perform. Many had been stuffed with silt, others narrowed by unlawful buildings, and nearly all have been incapable of dealing with the quantity of rain pushed by climate-induced excessive climate occasions.
The city’s land floor—stripped of timber and vegetation—might not soak up runoff, accelerating the dimensions and velocity of the flooding. There had been no significant enforcement of zoning legal guidelines. No incentives to dissuade unlawful constructing. No functioning flood administration methods. No early-warning community tailor-made to native circumstances. When the floods got here, they revealed not simply the weak point of bodily infrastructure however the collapse of institutional duty.
Learn additionally: The Mokwa flood: When nature went angry
But beneath this devastation lies one thing way more painful: the notice that it didn’t must be this fashion. Mokwa’s flood was not a punishment from nature—it was the value of inertia. It’s what occurs when authorities establishments turn into deaf to science and blind to their very own tasks. It was a consequence of fragmented governance, the place companies overlap however don’t collaborate, plans are drafted however by no means carried out, and unlawful constructions mushroom in full view of regulators with out consequence.
Nonetheless, the story should not finish in despair. Tragedy could be a turning level, if solely we have now the braveness to remodel grief into resolve. Within the ashes of destruction lies a uncommon probability for a whole reset—not simply of infrastructure, however of the governance methods that allowed this to occur. Mokwa can turn into a mannequin of what post-disaster resilience ought to appear like in Nigeria and past. And it has already began.
To its credit score, the Niger State authorities has initiated a commendable response. Governor Bago has promised to actually construct a brand new city in Mokwa.
That is actual management. Roads are being constructed to function resilient evacuation routes within the occasion of future emergencies. The state is constructing 200 brand-new houses, that includes flood-resilient designs, solar-powered electrical energy, and communal layouts designed to advertise security and cohesion. Healthcare and academic establishments are being constructed.
This reset should start with a brand new planning philosophy—one which acknowledges local weather change not as an summary menace however as a pressure that’s already reshaping Nigeria’s panorama. Rebuilding is just not the identical as transformation. If we really need to make Mokwa a logo of resilience, then we should go additional. City development should now be risk-informed, and concrete planning should transition from a reactive to a proactive method. Land-use zoning must be enforced with seriousness and consistency, particularly in areas traditionally thought-about flood-prone.
Casual and unlawful settlements should be regularised, relocated, or reimagined with correct infrastructure. Pure ecosystems—corresponding to river buffers, wetlands, and tree belts—should be restored and guarded, not offered to the best bidder. Drainage methods should be overhauled and engineered for the local weather realities of immediately, not the assumptions of 30 years in the past. Conventional engineering options should be complemented by nature-based infrastructure, corresponding to reforestation, rain gardens, and permeable paving.
Moreover, resettlement insurance policies should shift from a reactive to a proactive method. Individuals dwelling in high-risk zones can’t be blamed or punished; they should be supported and relocated by means of inclusive, well-communicated programmes that present security, dignity, and financial alternatives. The brand new houses being constructed ought to set a benchmark—elevated foundations, flood-resistant supplies, and solar energy ought to turn into commonplace, not an exception. Additionally, communities should be positioned on the coronary heart of early warning methods. It’s not sufficient to have rainfall predictions sitting in some authorities workplace.
Low-cost applied sciences, corresponding to SMS alerts, native siren methods, and group radio broadcasts, ought to be utilised to tell and put together residents. Faculties should be reconstructed as protected studying areas, not simply buildings. Clinics should be resilient to local weather extremes. Youngsters who misplaced mother and father or houses should be given trauma help, scholarships, and an opportunity to dream once more. Faculties and church buildings will be designated as evacuation centres with provides pre-stocked. River ranges ought to be monitored by educated native volunteers who can feed real-time knowledge to emergency companies. Training about flood dangers ought to be embedded in class curricula, turning consciousness right into a generational talent.
The federal authorities should additionally play its half. It ought to take duty for high-cost infrastructure, corresponding to river coaching, nationwide flood modelling, and interstate water basin administration. Local weather finance—whether or not from growth companions, carbon markets, or inexperienced bonds—ought to be mobilised aggressively to help Niger State and others prefer it in rebuilding higher. The Ministry of Surroundings, the Ministry of Water Sources, and the Nigeria Hydrological Providers Company should harmonise their knowledge and work collectively, slightly than in silos. Niger State should enact and implement zoning and constructing laws. The native authorities should take group engagement critically—not simply in occasions of disaster, however daily. The non-public sector should even be drawn in, not simply as contractors however as companions in resilience. What Mokwa teaches us is that floods don’t recognise bureaucratic boundaries—and neither ought to our response.
Mokwa can’t be allowed to fade from reminiscence. It ought to hang-out us, sure, however extra importantly, it ought to educate us. This catastrophe displays what occurs when knowledge is ignored, when the unlawful turns into regular, and when warnings are misplaced within the noise of paperwork. Nonetheless, it additionally demonstrates what is feasible when political will aligns with public want. If the momentum of restoration continues and systemic points are addressed, Mokwa will be remembered not for the way it drowned however for the way it rose.
