Flood Control: Now FG is Talking

We are at that time of the year when adrenalin, that excitement and fear hormone flows freely. Everybody is anxious whether the floods would come or not, whether the Cameroonian authorities would release water from the famous (or is it infamous) Lagdo dam. And if the floods would truly come, where would they find temporary shelter; what would be the fate of their property while they are holding out in their brother, sister or relation's house. These are some of the things that would be running round their brains. These are enough issues to traumatize any weak-hearted Nigerian.

However, with the River Benue and River Niger occasionally overflowing their banks, flooding has always been part of us. If it is not flooding occasioned by the action of Rivers Niger and Benue, it will be flooding due to heavy rain fall. And if it is not any of the two causes listed above, it will be the release of water from the Lagdo dam in Cameroon.

Familiar as we are with flooding in Nigeria, the 2012 monster floods occasioned by a combination of massive rainfall and the release of water from the Lagdo dam by Cameroonian authorities, Nigerians were caught with their pants down, even though we were told by our fathers and uncles that the last time a flood of such magnitude was experienced was 40 or 50 years back and that it will take another forty to fifty years before we will see another such flood. When however, 10 short years later, in 2022, there was another massive flooding, our fathers and uncles had nothing to say.

In 2012, we had a devastating flood disaster, which resulted in the death of 363 people and displaced over 2.1 million. This disaster was termed the worst in 40 years, affecting 30 of Nigeria's 36 states, with Kogi and Benue being the most affected. And in 2022, contrary to what we were told by our fathers and uncles, Nigeria witnessed another severe flood that affected over 7.7 million people, displaced 1.3 million, and claimed 600 lives. The experts said it was a combination of heavy rains and the release of excess water from Lagdo dam in Cameroon. Surprisingly Nigeria was caught napping, in spite of the 2012 experience!

In between these two major floods, Nigeria has experienced a number of seasonal, flash floods during the rainy season. These floods should tell any responsive government that these are signals for us to begin to take the issue of flood prevention and management more serious but most inexplicably there has been no flood mitigation measures put in place by the Nigeria Government.

Let us shift the story a little bit to Cameroon. In August, 1977, the Central African country of Cameroon conceived the idea of constructing a dam. The dam has a reservoir capacity of 7.7 billion cubic meters. It was constructed between August, 1977 and July 1982. The project was undertaken by a combination of engineers and Chinese workers, who worked with local Cameroonian laborers. The project is 308 meters long, 40 meters high, and 9 meters thick. Its primary purpose is to supply electricity to the Northern Cameroon and allow for the irrigation of 15,000 hectares of crops downstream.

Realizing that the release of water from the Lagdo dam would have adversely impact on Nigeria, the Cameroonian authorities entered into an agreement with the Nigerian Government. The two countries agreed that the Nigerian Government should construct a dam that would serve as a buffer to hold the released water from Lagdo and subsequently release same gradually so it would cause no flooding. The MoU stipulated in part that both countries would share information on the state of water in the Lagdo dam, rainfall, how to manage the release of excess water and time of release of water from the Lagdo dam.

The name of the dam Nigeria is to construct is Dasin Hausa dam in Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State. In addition to mitigating flooding from Cameroon, the dam is designed to generate 300 megawatts of electricity and irrigate about 150,000 hectares of land in Adamawa, Taraba, and Benue states. Because of the importance of the project, fund was approved, the project took off but surprisingly work on the project has been abandoned! This was in 1982 when the work was almost 70 per cent complete and since then nothing has been done in spite of several calls, including the Nigerian Senate, which requested the Federal Government to provide funds for the completion of the project in the 2024 budget. The situation is scandalous.

And to make matters worse, the integrity of the Dasin Hausa dam may have been highly compromised, having been abandoned for 34 years. There is also some unpleasant news from Cameroon. Lagdo dam's capacity has also been of concern. When it was completed in 1982, its initial reservoir capacity was 7.7 billion cubic meters, but due to aging and silting, its holding capacity has decreased to 1.6 billion cubic meters as at 2021.

Just when everyone has lost hope concerning the fight against flooding, the Federal Government has found its voice. In a surprise move, the FG has announced plans to build five buffer dams to reduce the incidence of constant flooding caused by the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. The same FG that could not complete the Dasin Hausa dam then, now wants to build five!

The Federal Government did not stop there. The Director of the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency, Femi Babajide, who disclosed the pleasant news of the five buffer dams, equally said the federal government also plans to de-silt existing dams and expand the tributaries of the River Niger and River Benue to manage the problem of flooding. 

And the icing on the cake is that the Federal Government is to establish a disaster relief fund to assist Nigerian citizens impacted by floods and other disasters.

With all of these flood mitigating efforts being put in place, the Federal Government is not only talking, it is now showing signs of seriousness!