By Joke Kujenya
SILENT AND often swift, drowning strikes without warning, leaving behind a trail of anguish and irreversible loss.
Each year, around 300,000 people die from drowning globally, with low and middle-income countries like Nigeria bearing the heaviest toll.
This tragedy, says a December 13, 2024, report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is most acute among children, where the hazard is invisible until it becomes fatal.
It notes that children under five alone make up nearly a quarter of all global drowning deaths.
These aren’t just numbers, they are lives swallowed by preventable misfortune, WHO report notes.
In Nigeria’s bustling communities, where rivers, ponds and open wells form part of daily living, the danger is ever-present.
Here, water is both life-sustaining and potentially lethal.
Many families, unaware of the risks or lacking access to safe infrastructure, are exposed daily.
According to global health data, drowning is the third leading cause of death for children aged 5–14, and the fourth for those between one and four. Without urgent intervention, these figures will persist, concealed beneath the surface of everyday life.
This stark reality played out one scorching afternoon in a remote settlement near Ilorin. Nine-year-old Musa was running errands for his mother when he stopped to rinse his dusty feet in a shallow stream.
His mother, Miriam, explained to JKNewsMedia thatit took a while for her to know what had happened to her son. It was a close-by neighbour that eventually ran to come inform her about her son’s predicament.
Later, she realised that what started as innocent relief from the heat became a frantic struggle for survival.
Slipping on an algae-covered rock, Musa plunged into deeper water. And by the time his cousin also noticed, the stream had gone quiet.
“Musa was pulled out unconscious,” she said, and adds, “revived after intense Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) from a local nurse and rushed to a nearby clinic.”
Miriam said her son survived, but his voice, once animated and curious, now trembles each time he recounts the experience. “Now, I have warned him never to go near the river again,” she said firmly.
In another incident at Ojo area of Lagos, 32-year-old Amaka also recounts how she narrowly escaped a similar fate.
She started: “It was supposed to be a fun weekend with my colleagues at a lagoon-side resort. Then, after all the munching, a brief swim was suggested to which we all agreed. This was followed by some laughter. And just as we all began to dive into the water, then came a sudden pull from below.”
She recalls the moment she realised she was no longer in control, her limbs flailing, lungs screaming.
Amaka continued: “I was sinking, and no one saw me. I was dying and no one knew,” she said.
“Out of the blue, it was a timely rescue from a passer-by who noticed the disturbance that saved my life.”
Amaka now advocates for water safety awareness, shaken by how close joy turned to death.
The WHO reveals drowning death rates are more than three times higher in low- and middle-income nations than in wealthier ones.
Over half of these tragedies occur in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia, but sub-Saharan Africa is not far behind.
In Nigeria, a country riddled with water transport challenges, unsafe fishing practices and under-regulated travel by boat, the risks multiply.
Reports indicate that over the past five years in Nigeria, divers cases of drowning have been recorded as follows:
2020: Estimated 6,584 drowning fatalities, representing 0.44% of all deaths in the country across an age-adjusted rate of 2.17 per 100,000 people, ranking Nigeria 107th globally.
2021: Multiple catastrophic boat accidents resulted in at least 127 deaths including 98 in Kebbi and 29 in Kano.
2022: The Ogbaru (Anambra) disaster claimed 76 lives while a river crossing incident near Sokoto drowned 28, and Adamawa flooding contributed 25 more drowning deaths.
2023: A Nigeria inland ferry capsized in Kwara, drowning 108 people; additionally, three medical students drowned in Calabar.
2024 to mid‑2025: Though comprehensive annual data is pending, ongoing incidents suggest drowning remains a major hazard, with federal and state agencies introducing safety measures in response.
However, this data highlights recurrent water-related tragedies, especially involving overcrowded boats and inadequate safety regulations, underscoring the pressing need for enhanced prevention strategies.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org and reddit.com
Hidden Risk That Claims Lives Globally
Children and young adults aged 0–29 years account for over 57% of all drowning fatalities globally.
WHO indicates that a major factor is the lack of swimming skills and water safety education, combined with little to no supervision around water bodies.
Males, particularly, are twice as likely as females to drown, often engaging in riskier behaviour, swimming alone, consuming alcohol near water, or using boats without safety equipment.
Climate change further deepens the threat.
As extreme weather patterns intensify, flooding becomes more frequent, with drowning responsible for 75% of deaths in such disasters.
Poor communities, with limited access to early warning systems or safe evacuation routes, face heightened risk.
Meanwhile, economic hardship pushes many into occupations like fishing, which the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization estimates claims over 32,000 lives yearly due to unsafe working conditions on water.
Happily, solutions exist, says WHO, but they demand commitment.
This includes covering open wells, installing barriers around dangerous water sources, and providing community-based childcare are proven methods.
Teaching basic swimming and water safety to children also has immense life-saving potential.
Further is a global investment model which suggests that scaling up daycare and swim training could prevent 774,000 child drownings by 2050 and save over US$400 billion in lost economic productivity, as all suggested by WHO.
In 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a landmark resolution recognising drowning prevention as a public health priority.
The resolution, which designated 25 July as World Drowning Prevention Day, urges countries to integrate water safety into national development strategies and strengthen regulation of water transport and disaster response systems.
On the overall, Nigeria’s future lies not just in managing its land, but in safeguarding its waters.
As the UNGA advises, “Every child taught to swim, every well safely sealed, and every life jacket worn is a step away from tragedy. The battle against drowning will not be won by accident. It will be won by action.”
