Full Version

Geography

Nigeria is a West African country bordered by Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. The southern coast of Nigeria is located on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.  Nigeria comprises 36 states besides capital Abuja which is a union territory. The total area of Nigeria is 923,768 Sq.Km. making it the world’s 32^nd largest country in terms of its area covering 0.6% of the landmass of the world.  Nigeria lies between latitudes 4° and 14°N, and longitudes 2° and 15°E. Geographically, Nigeria can be divided into ten regions. They are (1) Sokoto Plain; (2) the Chad Basin, (3) the Northern High Plains; (4) the Jos Plateau; (5) the Niger-Benue River Valley; (6) the Western Uplands; (7) the Eastern Highlands; (8) the Southwestern Plains; (9) the Southeastern Lowlands; and (10) the Niger Delta. Nigeria is a land of great variety. It has hot, rainy sump lands, dry, sandy areas, grassy plains, tropical forests, plateaus, and rocky-mountains.

Population and land use

The population of Nigeria was 201 Million in mid-2019 as per the Population Reference Bureau. Nigeria is often referred to as the “Giant of African Countries” due to its large population. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Nigeria is home to 2.64% of the world population.  The density of the population of Nigeria is 226 inhabitants per Sq.Km. Nigeria is a multiracial state with over 250 ethnic groups. The three largest ethnic groups among them are the Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. The typical land use in Nigeria is agricultural which covers more than 60% of the country. The grassland and shrub shares almost 20%, which is the second largest land use type. The forest land is only 5% of the total land area of Nigeria.

Climate and rainfall

The climate is semi-arid in the north, which gradually changes into savanna toward the south and finally into the tropical rainforest with humid conditions. The average temperature is 26.6°C. The coastal area gets rain almost round the year. Other regions experience distinct wet and dry seasons of varying durations. The rainy season lasts from 9-12 months in the south and 2-3 months in the northern area. Maximum rainfall is experienced from June to September. Deficiency in total annual precipitation is a problem in parts of the country, particularly in the parts of the north where it is only 400 mm. The vegetation of thick mangrove forests and dense rain forests in the south gives way to a near-desert like condition in the northeastern corner of the country. In most other areas, however, the major problems are the distribution in time and space and the low dependability of rainfall. Rainfall averages over 2000 mm per annum along the coast in the southeast, 1000 mm in the center reducing to as low as 500 mm in the northeast. The estimated average annual rainfall in Nigeria is 1200 mm.

Food and agriculture

A sizeable population of Nigeria is engaged in agriculture, but agricultural landholdings are generally small and scattered. Also, the agricultural produce contributes only 20% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria. The average size of farm per household ranges between 0.5 and 5.0 ha. The major crops grown in the country can be divided into two main groups: food crops and export products. Despite the importance of the export crops, the primary policy of agriculture is to make Nigeria self-sufficient in its food and fiber requirements. A recent survey by JICA suggests that 39% of the landmass is potentially suitable for agriculture, and out of this between 4.0 and 4.5 Mha (approximately 4.5 to 5.0% of the land) are ideal for irrigated agriculture. But only 1.1 Mha can be supported entirely by available water resources. The main food crops of Nigeria include Sorghum, rice, wheat, beans, sesame, cashew nuts, cassava, cocoa beans, soybeans, groundnuts, maize (corn), millet, palm kernels, oil palm, taro, cowpeas, plantains, sugarcane, melon,  yam, potato, tomato, onion, and other vegetables and fruits. Cocoa is the leading non-oil foreign exchange earner.

Irrigation and drainage

Nigeria is divided into eight agro-ecological zones for the purpose of irrigation based on rainfall and temperature. Irrigation development has long been considered essential to the sustainable growth of agricultural production in Nigeria. The country has an estimated 3.1 Mha of potentially irrigable area, of which over 1 Mha is in the North. Out of a total of 624,408 ha planned for irrigation in 2004, only an estimated 293,117 ha has been equipped for irrigation and only 218, 840 ha has been cropped. The Federal Government of Nigeria recently released a long-term irrigation development strategy for the period of 2016 to 2030 and to be implemented in three phases with a total of 5 Mha by 2030. According to projection, land under irrigation has increased at less than 1% per annum in the last decade or so. It is not foreseen that the situation would change significantly because of many reasons. The harvested irrigated areas would increase from the estimated current figure of 1.17 Mha to about 2.35 Mha in 2025.

Water resources management

Nigeria has substantial water resources for both rainfed and irrigated agriculture. The total water resources potential is 375 Bm³/year while the water resources potential within the territory of Nigeria is estimated at 287Bm³/year and from outside the country is 88 Bm³. The groundwater resources potential as renewable resources is estimated at 156 BCM/year. Within the past three decades, Nigeria has constructed more than 200 dams of various sizes nationwide with a total active storage capacity of almost 33, 670 Mm³. Of the total water consumption, 36% is for irrigation capable of irrigating about 500,000 ha of land. Some of the existing major dams for irrigation are Zobe, Bakalori, Goronyo, Kiri, Ikere Gorge, Oyan, Tiga, Challawa Gorge. These dams are mostly located in the Northern part of the country.

Water policies

The Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission initiated the Maiduguri Agreement signed in 1990, and amended in 1998, dealing with development, conservation, and utilization of the water resources of the Komadougou-Yobe sub-basin. The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission was established after Lake Chad receded to settle the conflict over the blurred border between the two countries. A protocol to exchange daily data on flows, especially from the Lagdo Dam and coordinate large infrastructures were also signed with Cameroon. To address the problems in water sector, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has launched the “Transformation of Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) Project”. The proposed TRIMING Project is set to be a landmark operation which complements the World Bank’s support and focuses on improving large-scale public irrigation in Northern Nigeria where it can make a contribution to agricultural production, growth, as well as rural poverty reduction. It has the potential to substantially increase rural production, incomes and employment opportunities, by improving irrigation on 50,000 ha, developing an additional 23,000 ha of irrigated land (an 85% increase) for more than 140,000 farmers.

ICID and National Committee

Nigeria joined the ICID in 1970 and formed its Nigerian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (NINCID). The 4^th Afro-Asian Regional Conference was held at Lagos, Nigeria, in 1982.  International Seminar on Performance of Large and Small Scale Irrigation Schemes in Africa” was held at Abuja in November 1999. The 2^nd IYPeF e-Discussion on ‘Solar-Powered Irrigation System: Exploring Opportunities and Threats’ was organized from 15 February-2 March 2019 which was led by a Young Professional Eng. Amali Abraham Amali from Nigeria who acted as the IYPeF lead coordinator. Late Mr. N.O. Papoola (1980-1983), Dr. E.U. Nwa (1984-1987), and Eng. I.K. Musa (2002-2005) were the Vice Presidents of ICID. Currently, Engr. (Mrs.) Esther Oyeronke Oluniyi is the Chairperson and  Engr. Muhammad Sani Bala is the Secretary General of the NINCID and can be contacted at < akinron@hotmail.com> and , respectively.