INDIGENOUS ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES AND COMMUNITY BASED FLOOD MITIGATION IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS OF ABA URBAN

Rapid urbanization, weak infrastructure, and poor land-use regulation have intensified the incidence of urban flooding in many Nigerian cities, with informal settlements facing the greatest exposure and the least institutional protection. Aba Urban, the commercial hub of Abia State, exemplifies this vulnerability, as its low-lying, densely populated informal neighbourhoods experience recurrent and often severe seasonal inundation. This study examines the indigenous adaptive strategies and community-based flood-mitigation mechanisms employed by residents in these settlements, drawing on evidence synthesized from household surveys, community interviews, long-term experiential knowledge, and direct field observations documented in the original thesis research. Findings reveal that residents rely on a wide range of context-specific coping mechanisms including raised residential platforms, improvised drainage channels, sandbag embankments, communal desilting exercises, informal flood-watch networks, and locally rooted early-warning practices to reduce immediate flood impacts. While these strategies demonstrate considerable ingenuity, social cohesion, and adaptive capacity, they remain largely reactive, limited in scale, and inadequate for managing severe or prolonged flooding events. The study concludes that indigenous practices alone cannot substitute for formal urban flood-risk management and underscores the need for an integrated, hybrid approach that combines community based adaptation with institutional interventions such as drainage expansion, waste management reform, land-use regulation, and inclusive planning. Strengthening collaboration between communities and municipal authorities offers a pathway toward more equitable, sustainable, and locally grounded flood resilience in Aba’s informal settlements.