“Building resilience to climate change impacts after the 2011 flood disaster at the University of...

BUILDING RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT AFTER THE 2011 FLOOD

DISASTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, NIGERIA

PROF ISAAC F. ADEWOLE

VICE CHANCELLOR,

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

PROF. S.B. AGBOLA

PHYSICAL PLANNING UNIT


MR. FAITH KASSIM

DEPARTMENT OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING

FACULTY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES


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BUILDING RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

IBADAN,NIGERIA

1. Introduction

The world is experiencing dramatic environmental and socio-

economic change in recent decades. Phenomena such as population

growth, rapid urbanization process, increasing natural resources

depletion, environmental degradation, climate change and climate

variability, and the increase in natural and human induced

disasters have affected social and economic development in many

part of the world (Makoka and Kaplan, 2005). Throughout the

history of human existence and development, one of the functions

of any settlement is to provide safety and protection to its

inhabitants from the onslaught of invaders or pest and pestilence

(Alioune and Agbola, 2009). The concentration of wealth,

knowledge and power in cities made it possible for the

construction of some of the greatest projects to protect people

and property from the vagaries of nature. Today, the constructed

projects are threatened by climate change and climate variability

as witnessed in the 2011 flood disaster within the University of

Ibadan campus.

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Settlements and its associated infrastructural needs, as noted by

UN-Habitat (2008), are one of humanity’s most complex creations,

never finished, never definitive. They are like a journey that

never ends. However, the most complex challenge facing

infrastructures in human settlements is the global environmental

change, particularly climate change and climate variability.

These represent one of the greatest environmental, social,

economic and political threats to human existence. As noted by

Kates and Wilbanks (2003), while climate change is global in its

manifestations and components, it is also a deeply rooted local

incidence. It is in this context that settlement plays a crucial

role in the climate change discourse.However, as noted by Romero-

Lankao(2008) beyond the obvious risks and vulnerabilities that

climate change predisposesanenvironment to, such area is expected

to play a pivotal role in mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Thus, as vulnerability increase, there are also increasing

opportunities that provide important strategies and resources for

creating innovative adaptation, mitigation and resilience

strategies to respond to the climate change.

The central focus of this paper is that lessons can be drawn from

examining how the University of Ibadan has adapted to conditions

of increasing vulnerability to climate change induced

disaster.This paper is organized in eight sections: the first

section is the introduction, while the second and third are the

context of the study and the methodology. The fourth section

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outlines the conceptual interpretation of resilience. The

occurrence and impact of the 2011 flood disaster on the

University community are contained in the fifth section while

section six gives account of the present state of the structural

resilience intervention undertaken by the University. Section

seven concludes by drawing inferences from the present projects

as sustainable measures for future development.

2. University of Ibadan:The Context of the Study

The University of Ibadan is Nigeria’s premier University. In

1943, the British Government set up two Commissions, the Elliot

and Asquith Commissions, to advice on the establishment of

Universities in its West African colonies. The report from the

Commissions gave rise to the establishment of the University

College in Nigeria and Ghana. One of the established Colleges was

located in Ibadan and later metamorphosed to the first University

in the country. Thus, the University College, Ibadan, was founded

in 1948, as an external College of the University of London. On

17th November, 1948, the Secretary of State for the Colonies cut

the first sod at the permanent site of the University, about 8

kilometers from the temporary site. In 1953, the College moved

from the temporary accommodation in Army Barracks, Eleyele to its

permanent site that covered over 1,185.04 hectares of land. The

College became a full fledge University in 1962.

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Out of the University land area of 1185.04 hectares, the existing

campus occupies 670.90 hectares. The Ajibode resettlement area

covers 105.61 hectares and the developing extension site for

future expansion plan occupies 514.14 hectares. The present

campus, developed under Phase I, is fully built up to the extent

that it is difficult to accommodate any new building project. The

Phase II is located at Ajibode, adjacent to the present site. It

is designed for postgraduate programmes and other private sector

driven initiatives.

University of Ibadan is located in the south western region of

Nigeria about 160 km from the Atlantic Ocean coast and situated

at an altitude of 209m above sea level. The annual rainy season

occurs from April to October with a characteristic August break

during which rainfall abates.However, in recent years, the break

is no longer constant leading to increase in rainfall.

Meteorological conditions within the University indicate a mean

daily minimum temperature of between 22.1 and 24.4ºC, mean daily

maximum temperature of 24.9 and 36.8ºC, total precipitation

(125.2 – 278.5 mm), and mean relative humidity at 10.00 am (76 –

88 mm).

The present campus of the University is adorned with varied

infrastructures. These, however, exist purposely to complement

academic programmes in the Faculties of Arts, Science,

Agriculture and Forestry, the Social Sciences, Education,

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Veterinary Medicine, Technology, Law and Pharmacy and the College

of Medicine (Faculties of Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical

Sciences, Dentistry and Public Health). Other academic wings of

the University include: the Library, Institutes of African

Studies, Education, Child Health and Centres like African

Regional Centre for Information Science (ARCIS), Centre for Peace

and Conflict Studies (CEPAS) Centre for Sustainable Development

(CESDEV) Centre for Petroleum Energy, Economic and Law (CPEEL).

The University, also, provides a wide range of support

facilities. These include: the Computing Centre, University

Press, Arts Theatre, Ibarapa Community Health Project,

Behavioural Sciences Research Unit, Schlumberger Learning Centre,

University Guess Houses, University Staff Quarters, Student Hall

of Residence, Staff Club, Student Union Building, Event Centre,

Bookshop, Abadina Media Resource Centre, UI Radio Station,

Weather Station, Awba Dam, Water Treatment Plant, Fuel Station,

Power Station, Research Management Office, International Office,

as well as Community Service Units such as Works and Maintenance

and University Health Services. Other academic supporting

facilities/infrastructures include Zoological Garden, Botanical

Garden, the University Teaching and Research Farm, Fish Farm,

Greeneries, Landscape, Sporting Facilities, Economic Trees and

Religious Centres.

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It is on this dense campus with its fully developed Faculties,

support facilities and infrastructure that the 2011 rain wreaked

havoc on without notice

3. Method and Tools

This paper relied on an existing survey of the literature on

vulnerability, risk, resilience and coping mechanism for the

built environment as applied to a University setting. An intimate

discussion of the setting provides a rich background to the

understanding of the context of this paper. Direct observations

and inventory of affected areas through Geographic Information

System (GIS), also, provide a before-and-after analyses of the

affected areas in the University campus. The various notes,

reports and comments of the various arms of the University and

from visitors on the flood incident provide another rich source

of information for the paper.These are supplemented with numerous

photographs on the incident and the resilient projects.

4. Resilience: A Conceptual Interpretation

Resilience is a complex multi-interpretable concept with

contested definitions and relevance. Holling (1973) introduced

the resilience concept into the ecological literature as a way of

understanding nonlinear dynamics. A resilient community, like

ecosystems, can better withstand ‘disturbances’ and adapt to

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change when required. Resilience is the capacity of a system,

community or society potentially exposed to hazards to adapt, by

resisting or changing, in order to reach and maintain an

acceptable level of functioning and structuring. This is

determined by the degree to which the social system is capable of

organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning from past

disasters for better future protection andto improve risk

reduction measures (Jabeen, et al 2010). This highlights the

degree of anticipatory or proactive adaptation before the event

occurs. It also underlines the importance of learning from past

events, the need to adapt to potential risk and the ability to

deal with uncertainty. Also, it highlights the importance of

people’s capacities before a disrupting event.

Resilience is also the ability of a system to recover from the

effect of an extreme loadthat may have caused harm.This implies,

unlike the latter definition, that damage can occur and the

system will be able to recover. This type of adaptation can be

termed reactive, hence, it takes place after the impacts of

climate change have occurred. Pelling’s (2003) definition of

resilience as the ability of an actor to cope with or adapt to

hazard merges with the proactive and reactive resilience. It is a

product of thedegree of planned preparation undertaken in the

light of a potential hazard, and ofspontaneous or premeditated

adjustments made in response to felt hazard, includingrelief and

rescue. Pelling’s definition introduces the terms ‘cope’ and

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‘adapt’ in his interpretation of resilience. Within the climate

change discourse, ‘coping capacity’ and ‘adaptive capacity’ are

often used interchangeably. Resilience includes both coping

strategies and adaptive strategies. Coping refers to the actions

and activities that take place within existing structures, often

short-term strategies.

As noted by Alberti, et al (2003), resilience is the degree to

which communities cope with alteration before re-organizing a new

set of structures and processes. Thus, resilience is related to

the degree to which settlements can maintain human functions as

well as ecosystem functions. Resilience is the ability of people

and society to adapt to a changing world and to take advantage of

the new possibilities offeredby change and disturbance. As noted

by Beatley (2009), managing resilience is intimately related to

the capacity of communities fortimely and effective response and

recovery when disasters occur. Such responses depend heavily on

local community institutions and social networks. Therefore,

resilience could be strengthened by elements such as knowledge of

hazards, shared community values, positive social and economic

trends, healthy partnerships among social groups and

organizations, and strong social communication infrastructures

To Vella, et al (2012), community resilience takes three different

forms. These include; resistance, which refers to the ability of

a community to absorb perturbation; recovery, which focuses on

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the speed and ability to recover from the stressors and

creativity, which addresses the ability of a social system to

maintain a constant process of creating and recreating, that the

community not only responds to adversity, but in doing so,

reaches a higher level of functioning. In the context of

disasters, Berkes (2007) argues that community resilience

involves a set of adaptive capacities and it is a strategy for

promoting effective disaster preparedness, response and

maintaining community sustainability. However, as noted by

Saavedra and Budd (2009), effective undertaking of climate

change-related planning actions in response to climatic

disturbances depends on the capacity of communities to accept

change and reorganize and take advantage of events to foster

adaptive transformations. This capacity to accommodate change

should be reflected in concrete actions directed toward

preparation for unpredictable disaster events resulting from

climate change and climate variability. It is in these regard

that the University of Ibadan can be regarded as a resilient

community because of its ability to absorb severe perturbation,

recover from same with speed and proactively put in place

structures that would forestall and or limit future damages from

climate change events.

5. The 2011 Flood Disaster

The University, since its inception in 1948, has been on the path

of sustainable development. This is evident in the allocations of

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land to different activities within the Phase I campus premises.

The academic support facilities/infrastructures such as the

Zoological and Botanical Gardens, the University Teaching and

Research Farm and Fish Farm are located in areas that will

enhance their productivity and sustainability before the

localization of the global effects of climate change and climate

variability predisposed the University community to flood

disaster.

On Friday, 26th August, 2011, a torrential rainfall with uncommon

intensity occurred in the city of Ibadan. The amount of rain that

day was 187.55mm and it is ranked as the third heaviest rainfall

starting at 16:40 until 20:00 hour but with intermittent

drizzling until 23:00 hour accompanied with a wind speed of

65km/hr. At the end of the rainfall, many parts of the city,

including the University of Ibadan community were inundated with

property and other infrastructural facilities and services either

destroyed or severely damaged. Indeed, the damages were

dramatically higher that the celebrated River Ogunpa flood in

1980. Although the city of Ibadan was counting its losses, as

reported in the national newspaper, the University of Ibadan

started counting its own losses before the rain stopped.The Head

of Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Management, whose newly

stocked fish ponds were washed away, promptly reported the losses

to the Vice-Chancellor. (Plate 1).

Plate 1: Collapsed Walls of the Fish Ponds

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Source: Office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan (2011)

This loss was only a tip of the iceberg as the losses to the

University became more apparent with more reports of damages from

different departments and units of the University. After the

painstaking tour of the reported damaged areas by the University

Management on Monday 29th August, 2011, it was observed that

fourteen (14) areas of University were visibly and severely

affected but with different degree of impacts. Perhaps the most

visible were the collapsed perimeter fences of the University

along Oyo and Ajibode roads, Abadina/Teaching and Research Farm

and the Abadina Quarters/Department of Forest Resources

Management fence (Plate 2).

Plate 2: Collapsed Fences

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The damages at the Teaching and Research Farm were massive as

four of the poultry pen foundations were washed away while the

Zoological Garden was not spared. The Samonda Stream, which

virtually divided the Zoo into two, became unprecedentedly

swollen, washing away the walkways on the stream and flooded the

animal cages and the children’s playground (Plate 3).

Plate 3: Flooded Warthog Cage and Washed Away Walkway.


Added to the highlighted damages was the severe loss at the

Botanical Garden where a building foundation was washed away and

materials in the flooded Administrative building and exotic plant

species which are rare to source were lost to the flood (Plate

4).

Plate 4: Washed Away Nursery and Exotic Plant Species at theBotanical Garden

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The University roads, water supply, sewage system, buildings and

other infrastructural facilities were not spared. For example,

the erosion of many roads led to the massive destruction of the

University’s underground electric cables, collapse of the Eleyele

– University of Ibadan raw water mains, the collapse of sewer

lines and uprooted trees. The University has a good stock of

residential buildings; some of the buildings roofs were crushed

by fallen trees leading to leakages, flooding of rooms and damage

to property (Plate 5).

Plate 5: Housing Unit Damaged by Fallen Tree and Eroded RoadShoulder


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Similarly, the University Bookshop was flooded after the rain

where books, furniture and other equipment worth millions of

naira were damaged (Plate 6). The general impact of the flood in

terms of damages in the different infrastructure in which the

University relied are as presented in Table 1.

Plate 6: Damaged Books at the Flooded University Bookshop


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Table 1.0: Impact of the August 2011 Flood on Structures and Infrastructure Within the

UniversityS/N Damages Remedy Cost

Estimate1 Collapsed Fences

a) Sokoto Crescentb) Abadina College/Teaching and Research Farmc) 33kv Sub-Stationd) Perimeter Fence at Orogun and Ajibode Roade) Experimental Forest Resource

Management/Abadina Fence

Reconstruction of fences withreinforced concrete foundation

N20m

2 On-Going Construction Works At The TeachingResearch Farm

a) 4 Poultry Pens

b) Collapse of Newly Construction Fish Ponds

Reconstruction of sub-structural blockwork with reinforced concrete columnstiffening. Reconstruction of failed ponds withadequate drainage

N4m

N12m

3. Fish Farm: 5 Flooded Fish Ponds and Loss ofStock

Reconstruction of failed pond andrestocking with fishes

N40m

4. Zoological Gardena) Collapsed walkway over canal

b) Flooded animal cagesc) Siltation of canal d) Drowning of animals

Reconstruction of walkway withreinforced concrete and expansion ofbridge on Appleton roadReconstruction of cagesChannelization of stream.Restocking

N150m

5 Faculty Of Agriculture And Forestrya) Siltation of drainsb) Flooding of offices

Expansion of drains N13m

6 Road Networka) Washing away of embankment of Road 1,

Ajibode ExtensionChannelization of stream from Orogunto Ajibode N5billion

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b) Washing away of bridge linking Ajibodecommunity on Road 5

c) Flooding of sections of Benue and BarthRoads

d) Washing away of drainage system

Reconstruction of a 2 span bridgeExpansion of internal drainage systemChannelization of streams within thecampus

7. Electrical Networka) Collapse of 33kv Feeder from Ibadan PHCN

Substation b) Collapse of 33kv Feeder From Ayede

Substationc) Explosion of Underground HT Electric

cables (Kuti substation to Tedder andMellanby Halls)

d) Destruction of feeder pillar at Amina Wayby fallen trees

e) Damage to underground junction feeder atBenue Road due to flooding

Replacement of feeders and otherinstallations

N120m

8. Water Supply: Collapse of Eleyele – U.I. rawwater mains

Realignment of mains with ductile ironpipes

N15m

9. Sewage System: Collapse of sewer line atNnamdiAzikiwe Pumping House

Reconstruction of damaged sewer linewith cast iron pipes

N3m

10. Faculty of Education: Flooding of FacultyLibrary with damage to books

Expansion of drainage and replacementof damaged books

N3m

11. Buildingsa) Flooding of Ground Floors of Queen

Elizabeth b) Blown-off Roofs in Tedder Hallc) Collapse of roof drainage leading to

flooding of roomsd) Partial collapse of building at 8, Kurumi

Road due to fallen treese) Damaged roof of University Bookshopf) Damaged roof of Post-Graduate Schoolg) Damaged roof of ObafemiAwolowo Hall

Expansion of drainage systemReroofing of Block A, Tedder HallReroofingReconstruction of collapsed building

Reroofing and procurement of damagedbooksReroofingReroofing

N350m

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Buildingsh) Damaged roof of ICT Building and damage to

sensitive equipment

Reroofing and replacement of damagedequipment

12. Botanical Gardena) Collapse of staff shedb) Flooding away of farming implementsc) Flooding of the Administrative building

Reconstruction of shedReplacement of implementsRelocation of building to higherground

N 50m

Source: Office of the Vice Chancellor, 2011

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Shortly after the Management’s survey of the areas affected by

the flood, the Vice-Chancellor requested the Works and

Maintenance Department to identify and cost the damages caused by

the rain. The cost of repairing all the identified damages and

remedies to forestall a recurrence was estimated to be Five

Billion, Seven Hundred and Eighty Two Million Naira (N5.782b) $1

= 155 Naira)

The magnitude of the flood devastation informed the visit of

notable personalities into the University for an on the spot

rapid assessment. The personalities that visit the University

include: the: Governor of Oyo State; Federal Minister of

Education; Executive Secretary of the National University

Commission;Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the

University, among other personalities. During the visit,

donations were made to the University as rehabilitation and

recovery fund by the visitors. The University also received, with

gratitude, some donations from benevolent individuals and

corporate organizations to augment the cost of mitigating the

effects of the flood disaster (Table 2). The received donations

were only a widow’s mite in the long journey of providing the

needed finances to fast-tract the recovery and build resilience

against future occurrences.

Table2:Corporate and Individual Donations to Rehabilitate theFlood Affected AreasS/N Corporate Organisation/Individual Amount (N)

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1 Chief WoleOlanipekun, SAN, Former Pro-Chancellor

10,000,000.00

2 Prof. OmoniyiAdewole, Former Vice-Chancellor 100,000.003 Academic Staff Union of Universities, National

Secretariat500,000.00

4 National University Commission 30,000,000.00

5 Prof. O. O. Akinyinka, Provost, College ofMedicine

50,000,00.00

6 WemaBank Plc 5,000,000.007 Mainstream Bank 5,000,000.008 Stabic IBTC 2,500,000.009 AjisafeAkinkunmi (400 Level Agricultural and

Environmental Engineering Student)5,000.00

10 His Royal Majesty, Alayeluwa, ObaAdedokunAbolarin, Aroyinkeye IV, the Orangunof OkeIla

25,000.00

11 University of Ibadan Alumni Association 1,000,000.0012 UI Baptist Church 20,000.00Total Amount 13,550,000.0

0Source: Office of the Vice Chancellor, 2011

6. Building the University Resilience for Tomorrow

Future weather predictions seem apocalyptic especially for the

developing countries. It has been documented that warming of the

climate system is unequivocal. According to IPCC (2007), the

projections for the 21st century show that global warming and

climate change will accelerate with a prediction of an average

increase in global temperature ranging from 1.80 to 40C. Also,

greater frequency and severity of extreme weather events are

expected. In addition to this, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency

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(NIMET) 2012 and 2013 Seasonal Rainfall Predictions (SRP) provide

essential weather advisories and early warning to planners,

disaster managers, decision makers and operators in various

rainfall sensitive socio-economic sectors.

The prediction model which is based on the strong tele-connection

between El Nino/Southern Oscillations (ENSO), Sea Surface

Temperature (SST) anomalies and rain-bearing weather system over

Nigeria indicated that Oyo State is one of the States in Nigeria

that will experience above normal rainfall amount (NIMET, 2013).

Given the experiences of floods in Ibadan city and the associated

impacts due mainly to the drainage patterns and the urbanization

processes within the city, it is high time for the University, as

a microcosm of Ibadan city, to develop enduring mitigation,

adaptation and resilience strategies to effectively respond to

the predicted flood disaster.

6.1 The Resilience Projects

After the August 2011 rain and in a bid to mitigate future flood

occurrence and other extreme weather events, the University

started by adopting a combination of structural and non-

structural approaches in building resilience for the University

community. The structural approaches include engineering

interventions like river channel modifications, embankments

through channelization and reservoir design to control the flow

of river and or to control the spread of flooding. The non-

structural approaches include formal flood warning system21

(forecast from University’s weather station), land use controls

on flood prone areas and building regulation enforcement.

However, for the purpose of this study, the structural approaches

will be highlighted and the responses are grouped into the

following: Agricultural, Tourism and Infrastructural facilities

and services which are the most affected in the flood incident.

6.1.1 Building Resilience for Agricultural Infrastructure

According to the International Food Policy Research Institute

(IFPRI) (2006), 25% of agricultural activities in sub Saharan

African countries rely heavily on seasonal rainfall. However, due

to research inclination of the University, her agricultural

activities have to be all year round with minimum reliance on

rainfall as major source of water. This is the mindset of the

University planners for locating the Faculty of Agriculture and

Forestry and most of the Faculty’s activities either at the banks

of streams or on Fadama land. This is done purposely to take

advantage of high water tables within these environments. Today,

climate change has made nonsense of the natural order of

agricultural sustainability within the University. As climate

change and climate variability impact is evolving, there is the

compelling need for the University to respond by curtailing the

negative impact associated with it. Consequently, as the flood of

August 2011 made real the threat of climate change on

agricultural activities as shown in Table 1, the University

responded by building resilience of the affected structures.22

Four poultry pens affected at the Teaching and Research Farm

(TRF) were reconstructed. The block work substructures washed

away by the flood were reconstructed with reinforced concrete

column stiffening. Also, the collapsed fish ponds at the TRF were

reconstructed with adequate drainage to aid free flow of excess

storm water within the farm premises. At the Fish Farm, the

entire fish ponds were inundated. It is important to note that

the construction of the fish pond involves the adequate knowledge

of the types of soil, the angle of retention of a particular type

of soil, the interaction between water and soil, the behavior of

soil under the permanently wet and submerged condition and many

more. The construction of ponds should also ensure: least amount

of seepage or leakage and loss of water, safeguard against

siltation, side collapse, predatory and aquatic animals and

protection from possibility of flooding or overflowing of water.

The interview conducted with the Fish Farm Manager in the course

of this study revealed that all these indices for construction

were taken into consideration at the initial construction of the

Fish Farm. However, with climate change and climate variability,

the associated flooding and experiences of this massive flood,

there is need to review the accepted norms in fish pond

construction to meet the challenges of global climatic change and

rainfall patterns. Today, the entire fish ponds have been

reconstructed with emphasis on strengthening and building the

pond area resilience against flooding. The pre disaster fish23

ponds were dug-up pond. Today, bearing in mind the widespread

devastation of the 2011 flood on the natural dugout ponds, the

majority of the ponds have been reconstructed using stone and

concrete slab to reduce erosion and withstand impacts of future

flood.

Plate 7: Reconstruction of Washed Away Ponds with Stone-ConcreteSlab

Source: Field Survey 2013

The most important component of the fish pond is the perimeter

dike which is designed and constructed to free the pond area from

floods. Also the utility and sustainability of the pond system

depends on the strength and lifetime of the perimeter dike. With

this realization in mind, the newly constructed perimeter dyke

was adequately compacted to reduce erosion. In addition to these,

and to functionally mitigate future flood occurrence, the peak

flow of the 2011 flood was taken into consideration. Thus, the

perimeter dike at the fish pond in about 1 meter higher than the

peak flow of the devastating flood. Also, to reduce every day

wear, tear and general erosion, the wet and dry sides of the dike

were covered with perennial creeping grass. The same procedure

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was adopted for the remaining dugout ponds within the Fish Farm

(Plate 8).

Plate 8: Grassing of Wet and Dry Sides of Fish Pond Dykes


The reconstruction and expansion of the existing Fish Farm after

the 2011 flood have greatly increased the productivity of the

Fish Farm. According to the Farm Manager, before the flood, the

Farm has only 5 ponds dedicated to research and seasonal

commercial activities. However, the flood disaster came with

added advantages of opening up a vast area for fish farm

expansion. Today,the farm has seized the initiative created by

the flood by expanding the number of fish ponds to over 30 with

increasing stock of fish to meet the University and its environs’

commercial catfish needs in and out of season. To preserve excess

harvest from the Fish Farm, the management has procured a number

of locally fabricated industrial ovens to meet various customers’

needs and to enhance a longer shelf life of the harvested fish.

The flood has boosted the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry

and, by extension, the University Internally Generated Revenue

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6.1.2 Interventions at the Zoological and Botanical Gardens

The Zoological and Botanical Gardens were established in 1948.

The Zoological Garden was established as a menagerie to support

teaching and research in the department of Zoology. Over the

years, the animals’ collection grew in number and diversity and

the menagerie became a full-fledged Zoo in 1974. Today, apart

from displaying animals for teaching, research and an important

tourist destination in Nigeria, the Zoo is primarily for the

conservation of endangered animal species. The garden is home to

a wide array of animals comprising mammals, birds, reptiles, and

amphibians.

The Botanical garden undertakes conservation of a wide range of

endangered and threatened plants mainly supporting in-situ

conservation programme. The Garden has continued to demonstrate a

high sense of commitment to recreation, education, conservation

and sustainable environmental needs of Nigeria as the foremost

botanical garden in the country. The garden is divided into seven

components namely: the nursery; the rose garden; the

horticultural section; the children section with recreational

facilities; the arboretum; the aquatic section and the rock

section. The garden is adorned with wide collection of orchid,

bryophyte/fern, economic trees palms, exotic and indigenous flora

as well as the ornamented.

For sustainability, the location of these two facilities used for

tourism, education and research activities require the presence26

of perennial water body. Accordingly, the Zoological and

Botanical Gardens were located at the banks of Samonda Stream and

River Ona respectively. The impacts of the August 2011 flood on

the Gardens are highlighted in Plate 3 and Table 1. At the

Botanical Garden, due to predictable future flooding as a result

of climate change and climatic variability, the Staff Shed and

Administrative Building inundated during the rain were relocated

to be built on higher and safer ground while the recreational and

the aquatic sections have been expanded by 30 meters inward into

the buffer of Teaching and Research Farm to create adequate set

back from River Ona and to accommodate more tourists (Plate 9).

Plate 9: Relocated Staff Shed and Administrative Building andNewly Developed Nursery


The level of destruction at the Zoological Garden (drowning of

animals, flooded animal cages, and washed away walkways on

Samonda Stream) necessitated the channelization of the

Streamthroughout its course within the University into Awba Dam.

The damaged cages during the flood were rebuilt and the washed

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away walkways were reconstructed using reinforced concrete.

Indeed, the entire Zoological Garden was retrofitted. It was as

if the University was waiting for disaster to strike before

taking this bold step at paying dedicated attention to the Zoo

(Plate 10).

Plate 10: Reconstructed Walkways at the Zoo


6.1.3 Infrastructural Facilities and Services

Extensive infrastructural facilities and services were damaged by

the flood. These include; roads, bridges, building, electrical

power installations, water supply, sewage system and teaching and

research supporting facilities such as class rooms, books and

furniture. The University has responded to these damages by

implementing short, medium and long term structural and non-

structural resilience strategies to combat the immediate and

future occurrence of flood disaster within the University

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environment. However, the most extensive intervention is the

channelization and rehabilitation of roads networks and Awba Dam

drainage system. The drainage system is central to the

university’s resilience project because an entire section of the

University’s natural habitat for the development of fish pond,

Zoological Garden and the University’s mini water work project is

located within the drainage network.

During the August 2011 flooding in Ibadan, the catchments and the

drainage basin of the dam within the University campus was

extensively flooded. After vigorous and in-depth analysis of

short, medium and long term solution of the flood along the dam’s

catchment area by the university authority, the most viable

option available to the university is to channelizeSamonda Stream

and rehabilitate Awba dam to increase its capacity for storm

water retention.

6.1.3.1 The Channelization of Samonda Stream

The channelization project for Samonda Stream is divided into two

segments: The Upper Awba dam and the Lower Awba dam

channelization. The Upper Awba project started from the boundary

of the University with Emmanuel College and ends by the bridge of

Independence Hall Drive beside the University’s Fish Farm ponds

covering a total of 610 meters. The second section, Lower Awba

project, starts from the Independence Hall Drive Bridge, through

the Zoological Garden to Appleton Road Bridge covering a total of

about 1 kilometer (Plate 11).29

Plate 11: Samonda Stream Channelization Project


6.1.3.2 Road Infrastructures Rehabilitation and Maintenance

All the road infrastructures affected by the flood, including the

bridge linking Ajibode community with the University, have been

rehabilitated to facilitate movement of vehicles and people

within and outside the University campus. Also, as part of the

channelization efforts, bridges on Appleton and Barth roads and

on Independence Hall Drive will be reconstructed and expanded to

accommodate and fit into the present design of the channelization

(Plate 12).

30

Plate 12: Reconstruction of Bridges on Ajibode Link Road and

Appleton Road


6.1.3.3 The Rehabilitation of Awba Dam

To manage the expected higher discharge of water into the Awba

Dam Lake and to resuscitate the abandoned University’s Water

Work, there is the need to rehabilitate the dam to meet the

University’s rain water requirements, in addition to providing

natural reservoir for storm water discharge. The Awba Dam, a

small earthen dam, was constructed in 1964 and later upgraded to

its present standard in 1973. Presently, the dam covers an area

of about 6 hectares.The dam’s embankment is 110m long, 8.5m high

with an average width of 12.20m. The maximum depth of the

reservoir is 5.50m and the length of the lake is 700m. The

reservoir serves the purpose of water supply, fish production and

31

research and has a capacity of 227 million liters of water with a

treatment rate of about 68,000 liters per day.

The Awba dam has operated for 39 years and it is due for

comprehensive rehabilitation. The rehabilitation’s focus,

essentially is, on sediment removal; installation of penstock

valves in the spillway to improve impoundment level of the lake

reservoir, perimeter fencing and clearing of water hyacinth on

the lake surface. From the analysis of the components and

perimeter of the dam, it hasbeen established that the reservoir,

after 39 years of operation, in line with general characteristics

of rivers and streams, must have lost significant portions of the

storage volume to sediments. Today, according to Adesina (2012),

the dam is uneconomical and unsafe due largely to the

accumulation, over the years, of about 57,283.54m3 of sediments

which represents 58.07% of the normal (service) volume of the dam

(Plate 13).

Plate 13: AwbaDamOvergrown with Weeds and Trees


32

It is important to note that, as a surface reservoir, the dam is

primarily constructed for two main purposes; to provide raw water

for the University’s mini water works and to serve as flood

mitigation structure. However, the gradual but significant

reduction in the storage volume of the dam implies that large

surface area of the dam would either induce large storm water

(flood) flow past the spillway structure, leading to dam collapse

and extensive flooding of the downstream structure or induce a

backwash flood leading to extensive flooding of area upstream of

the dam as witnessed during the August 2011 flood.

The present rehabilitation works will also entail total

restoration of the perimeter fence for the dam. This is essential

to provide restriction to human and animal from gaining access to

the dam’s reservoir. Also, the upstream and the downstream of the

dam have been overgrown with weeds and trees especially water

hyacinth. This weed has covered a substantial part of the dam

surface. The rehabilitation work will remove water hyacinth from

9,470m2area of the dam (Adesina 2012).

7. Conclusion

Vulnerability to present climatic variability are likely to

intensify vulnerability to future climate changes since future

changes in average conditions, to a large extent, will involve an

intensification of present variability and extremes. Many

serious problems have arisen because climate conditions and

variability have been ignored in development projects, and many33

societies are not well adapted to their current climate let alone

prepare for additional climate change (Agbola, 2010). Resilience

to climate change and climate variability and trends should be

seen as a regular feature of human existence. Therefore,

knowledge, skills, technologies, institutional arrangements and

strategies should be developed as important foundations for

adapting to longer-term climate change. However, the

devastations that accompany severe storms, floods and droughts

are dramatic evidence that more still have to be done to adapt to

emerging climate change induced disasters. Mainstreaming

adaptation and building resilience of vulnerable community can

yield broad based benefits that go beyond reducing climate change

impacts but can contribute to sustainable development and more

resilient environmental systems.

Indeed, the IPCC (2007) notes that action on adaptation is as

urgent as mitigation. Emerging insights from adaptive and

community based resource management suggest that building

resilience into both human and ecological systems is an effective

way to cope with environmental change characterised by future

surprises or unknowable risks. Given the global importance of

climate change and adaptation options, adaptive capacity and

other means of reducing risk should be prioritised. Hence, the

distinct need to explore how communities can constitute a model

of resilience to adapt to climate change should be intensified

(Kelly and Adger2000; Smit, et al 2000 Tompkins and Adger (2004)).

34

As noted by Budd, et al (2008), major disruptions of the dynamics

of any system could well result from the impact of climate change

and success in dealing with these disturbances depends on the

capacity of communities to foster transformations. This capacity

should be reflected in concrete actions such as those aimed at

building resilience and those intended at developing the capacity

to withstand undesirable consequences resulting from global

climate change. Similarly, the capacity of an area to accommodate

new conditions is dependent on some of the area’s features.In

this regard, openness to change and the ability to adapt and to

share information and resources in collective action stand out as

key elements of resilience.The University has been battered by

climate change induced flood disaster in 2011. The University has

also responded by building resilience that is focused on making

the University reap the benefits associated with climate change

and climate variability through proactive management of the flood

prone areas in the University. It is anticipated that these

resilient measures will stand the test of time.

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