Briga News Nigeria
Environmentalist, Researcher, and Disaster Risk Management Expert, Dr. Franklin D. Magada, PhD, has called on the Delta State Emergency Management Agency, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Ecological Fund Management Office to urgently intervene in the devastating ocean surge threatening Obuguru Community, Ogulagha Kingdom, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.
Dr. Magada described the situation as an environmental emergency requiring immediate national attention, warning that Obuguru Community is facing conditions comparable to those that led to the catastrophic 1953 North Sea Flood Disaster in the Netherlands, which claimed thousands of lives and reshaped the country’s approach to coastal protection.
According to Dr. Franklin D. Magada, PhD, the continuous ocean surge, shoreline erosion, flooding, and loss of land have placed the community under severe threat, exposing residents to displacement, destruction of livelihoods, and the gradual disappearance of their ancestral homeland.
“Today, Obuguru Community is confronting the same type of oceanic threat that challenged the Netherlands in 1953. The difference is that the Dutch responded with visionary flood-control infrastructure, sea barriers, dykes, and modern coastal engineering solutions.
Nigeria must now adopt similar long-term measures to protect vulnerable coastal communities in the Niger Delta before it is too late,” Dr. Magada stated.
He noted that Obuguru Community, a historic settlement and former host community to AGIP’s oil servicing operations, has continued to suffer the devastating impacts of ocean encroachment and climate-related coastal hazards with limited intervention.
Dr. Magada therefore directly invites and appeals to State Emergency Management Agency(SEMA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Ecological Fund Management Office to urgently deploy a high-level emergency assessment team to the community to evaluate the extent of the disaster, provide immediate relief where necessary, and coordinate sustainable response measures with relevant stakeholders.
He further called on the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Delta State Government, Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and international development partners to collaborate in developing a comprehensive coastal protection programme for the area.
“The people of Obuguru should not become environmental refugees in their own land. We must act now to prevent a situation where a historic Niger Delta community is wiped off the map by the advancing Atlantic Ocean.”
Dr. Magada disclosed that plans are currently underway for a joint on-site assessment involving NEMA and other relevant agencies to ascertain the scale of the threat and develop immediate, medium-term, and long-term intervention strategies.
He emphasized that the assessment would provide the foundation for implementing modern coastal defence systems inspired by the globally acclaimed Dutch model, including shoreline stabilization, sea defence barriers, flood protection structures, and climate adaptation measures.
Dr. Magada therefore calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and all relevant stakeholders to treat the Obuguru ocean surge crisis as a matter of national urgency and environmental security.
Signed:
Dr. Franklin D. Magada, PhD
Environmentalist | Researcher | Disaster Risk Management Expert, Niger Delta Environmental Advocate
