A Growing Crisis: Landslides in Nigeria and the Need for Urgent Action
The tragic landslides that have recently struck Calabar should shake us out of our complacency. Barely had residents begun to recover from the horror of the Ikot Anwatim disaster, which claimed the lives of five people, including four children from the same family, when another slope collapsed after heavy rainfall at Boro Pit, once again exposing the frightening vulnerability of communities living on unstable terrain.
These incidents should not be dismissed as unfortunate accidents or mere acts of God. They are warning signs – clear, unmistakable signals that climate change, poor environmental governance, and unsustainable urban development are converging to create a new category of disasters in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, it is important to note the landslides in Anambra State in inland areas and communities – such as Nanka and Agulu – featuring high-relief topography and deep, loose geologic strata. While both Calabar and Anambra face severe land degradation and soil loss during heavy rains, Calabar experiences acute, fast-moving coastal/urban landslides tied to drainage and waterfront embankments, whereas Anambra is famous for massive, deep-seated gully erosion that gradually carves out vast canyons in weak sandy soils. In other words, Calabar has landslides, while Anambra has gully erosion that could potentially cause landslides.
For decades, flooding has dominated Nigeria’s disaster management discourse. Every rainy season, we brace ourselves for overflowing rivers, submerged roads, displaced communities, and destroyed farmlands. Yet another danger has quietly emerged. Across the rainforest belt of southern Nigeria, prolonged and more intense rainfall is increasingly triggering landslides.
The last time I discussed major landslides on this column was during the unfortunate urban landslides in Freetown, Sierra Leone. I also followed it up with an article in 2020 after I visited the West African country and saw the major reason for such vulnerability – environmentally incoherent urban planning. Indeed, if there is any lesson we could learn from sudden landslide incidents, it is that we have come to that moment of truth when we must readjust our hitherto unsustainable ways of doing things.
The Science Behind the Disasters
The science is straightforward. As climate change warms the atmosphere, it allows the air to hold more moisture. When the rains come, they are often heavier and more prolonged. The soil gradually becomes saturated until it can no longer support its own weight. On steep or disturbed slopes, gravity takes over: the earth moves, homes collapse, and lives are buried beneath mud and debris.
Calabar presents a particularly troubling case. Nestled within one of Nigeria’s wettest ecological zones, the city experiences substantial annual rainfall. Under natural conditions, dense vegetation and stable slopes help absorb this rainfall. However, decades of rapid urbanisation, deforestation, indiscriminate excavation, poor drainage, and unregulated construction have weakened the natural resilience of the landscape.
Boro Pit – the corrupted version of the term borrow pit – itself tells an important story. Borrow pits are created when earth materials are excavated for construction. If left without proper engineering rehabilitation, they become ticking environmental time bombs. Their steep, exposed walls are highly susceptible to collapse, especially during periods of sustained rainfall. Building houses around such areas without comprehensive geotechnical assessments is an invitation to disaster.
Unfortunately, this pattern is not unique to Cross River State. Across Nigeria, environmental impact assessments are often treated as bureaucratic hurdles rather than essential safety tools. I can remember how even a high-profile national project like the Lagos-Calabar highway had its environmental impact assessment report enmeshed in unnecessary controversy. In short, one would have thought that the enormity of the project warranted a rigorous and transparent EIS process that leaves no one in doubt as to the ecological fidelity of both the project and its executors at all levels.
A Call for Immediate Action
It is a sad commentary on the evolution of our society as a people that housing developments spring up on floodplains, unstable hillsides, wetlands, and reclaimed land with little regard for geological realities. Building approvals are frequently granted without adequate consideration of long-term environmental risks. Alas, the same government that gave the ridiculous approval to the equally silly citizen comes back with a bulldozer to demolish when the structure becomes a menace to the ecosystem.
Climate change only magnifies these existing weaknesses. The disturbing reality is that Nigeria has made significant progress in discussing climate change internationally, yet climate risk has not been sufficiently mainstreamed into local governance. While our delegates negotiate adaptation finance at global climate conferences, many local governments still lack basic landslide hazard maps, slope stability assessments, rainfall-trigger warning systems, or even public awareness campaigns on geological risks.
This gap between international commitments and domestic preparedness is becoming increasingly costly. The recent disasters in Calabar should, therefore, serve as a national wake-up call.
Key Steps for Addressing the Crisis
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Comprehensive Landslide Susceptibility Mapping: Cross River State should inaugurate a comprehensive landslide susceptibility mapping exercise covering Calabar and other vulnerable local government areas. So should other coastal enclaves in the country. We cannot effectively manage risks we have not properly identified.
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Geotechnical Investigations: Abandoned borrow pits, quarry sites, and unstable slopes require immediate geotechnical investigations. Communities found to be living within high-risk zones should receive relocation support before another tragedy occurs. This is not only for littoral states; many states in Nigeria where mineral resources are mined, like Zamfara, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Kogi, Ebonyi, etc., should roll up their sleeves and save the lives of their citizens before it is too late.
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Upgrading Drainage Infrastructure: Drainage infrastructure across Calabar deserves urgent upgrading. Poorly managed stormwater accelerates soil erosion and significantly increases slope instability during heavy rainfall. This also goes for many other states, as we all have similar ecological challenges.
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Proactive Environmental Enforcement: Environmental enforcement agencies must become more proactive. Construction on unstable slopes should no longer be tolerated. Every major infrastructure or housing development should undergo rigorous geotechnical and environmental assessment before approval. This is why I keep hammering on the deployment of environmental health officers, as they are the first line of authority for environmental enforcement, especially at the local level.
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Ecosystem Restoration: Ecosystem restoration must become an integral component of disaster risk reduction. Trees do far more than beautify the environment. Their root systems bind the soil together, reduce erosion, slow runoff, and enhance slope stability. Every tree removed from a hillside increases the likelihood of future slope failure.
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Community-Based Early Warning Systems: Nigeria must also begin developing community-based landslide early warning systems. Advances in rainfall monitoring, satellite observation, soil moisture analysis, and digital communication make it possible to issue timely alerts before catastrophic slope failures occur. Such systems have saved countless lives in countries facing similar geological hazards.
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Public Education: Equally important is public education. Residents should know the warning signs of impending landslides: fresh cracks in walls or the ground, leaning trees or electricity poles, unusual water seepage, bulging slopes, or rumbling sounds during heavy rainfall. Prompt reporting of these indicators could mean the difference between life and death.
A New Era of Climate Adaptation
Perhaps the greatest lesson from Calabar is that climate change is changing the very nature of disasters confronting Nigeria. Floods are no longer our only concern. Extreme rainfall now triggers cascading hazards—flooding, erosion, landslides, infrastructure failure, and disease outbreaks—all interacting to deepen human suffering. This reality demands a corresponding shift in public policy. Climate adaptation can no longer be confined to environmental agencies alone. It must shape urban planning, housing, infrastructure, mining regulation, emergency management, and public health. Every ministry, department, and agency has a role to play.
The tragedy unfolding in Calabar should never become another statistic in our long catalogue of preventable disasters. Nature has spoken with painful clarity. The question is whether we are prepared to listen. Climate change is no longer knocking at Nigeria’s door. It has entered our neighbourhoods, our communities, and our homes. The landslides are its latest message. We should heed it before the next rain writes an even more tragic headline.
