OPENING THE FLOODGATES OF LAGDO DAM

   The authorities must do everything to mitigate the impact of the expected floods

With the alert from the Cameroonian authorities of a planned release of excess water from their Lagdo Dam, another period of misery and pain is approaching for Nigerians. A recall of the frightening impact of the flood that unleashed mayhem in 2022 when these same floodgates were opened should compel urgent attention. Since to be forewarned is to be forearmed, we hope that authorities in Abuja and the affected states will be on their guard, regardless of the Cameroon government’s promise that “officials of the Lagdo Dam will be releasing only modulated variable small amounts of water in order to mitigate and avoid damages that the released water may cause along the River Benue basin in both Cameroon and in Nigeria.”  

 Before the latest warning from the Cameroonian government, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), had similarly predicted that no fewer than 4.2 million Nigerians are at the risk of displacement this year as the annual rainy season intensifies. The IOM report estimated that $20 million will be needed to secure the most vulnerable populations against the inevitable floods through shelter and relocation efforts from May to October this year. “The funds would be       

Unfortunately, these warnings will not be taken seriously by the Nigerian government, according to the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey. “A look at how past floods have been handled in Nigeria shows clearly that we are not short of predictions and forecasting of impending disasters,” Bassey lamented. “Our governments and responsible agencies have consistently fallen short of the expectations of citizenry who have been routinely abandoned to battle the floods.” 

 In the 2022 flood, according to NEMA’s report, not less than 665 people died in the country, while the World Bank put the cost of losses at about $6.7 billion. This figure was arrived at after computing several things. The Lokoja-Abuja highway was impassable for over a week, stalling economic activities; there were property and  crops losses as it happened close to the rice harvest season. But on the threat coming from Cameroon, NEMA claims to be on top of the situation and has been embarking on sensitisation campaigns across Nigeria. “The letter is genuine. It is not coming to us by surprise. We identified various likely causes of flood, including possibility of excess water release from the Lagdo Dam and included all in our flood preparedness for the year,” said the spokesman of the agency, Manzo Ezekiel. 

In July 2023, NEMA launched an initiative (Web-based flood and early warning system) to take disaster early warning measures to the grassroots level for sustainable socio-economic growth. “Concerning our awareness programme on flood sensitisation, it’s an ongoing programme that we started early in the year, particularly after the release of this year’s climate forecast by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and annual flood outlook by Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency,” said Ezekiel. “NEMA commenced immediate sensitisation, because this forecast instrument contains information that shows likelihood of flood in some parts of the country.” 

 The greater concern is from the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA) which urges the federal government to address the challenge of seeking the requisite hydrological data from the agency before embarking on projects. That the agency is starved of both funds and manpower is indicative of the lack of premium we place on its work according to the Director General, Clement Eze. While we urge the federal government to take NiHSA more seriously, the immediate challenge is how to mitigate the disaster that is bound to come from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.