“Cameroon’s Dam not responsible for Floods,” says Nigerian Government
Edwin Akwueh, Abuja.
Nigerian government has confirmed that water released from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon was never responsible for the devastating floods in many parts of Nigeria.
The Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, who confirmed this said the cause of the flood was due to water flowing from the tributaries of River Katsina Ala and others into River Benue due to heavy downpour.
Senator Adamu Aliero had raised the issue of floods in the country during the budget defence session of the Ministry of Water Resources, and sought the efforts of the ministry towards mitigating the disaster.
“There have been insinuations that every year the Cameroonians inform us when they are releasing the water- that is not true.
“It took a lot of efforts from us to get a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for them to be informing Nigeria about releases.
“That was done when President Paul Biya came here on a state visit in 2016.
“They have been attempting since 2012, but it wasn’t done,” said Senator Adamu.
However, the minister said despite the MoU, it was the Nigerian Hydrological Services that would call on Cameroon whenever flood time came.
“Even this one, they are the ones who should keep us informed about the level of the water but they didn’t. They informed us 24 hours after,” said the Minister.
The Senate Committee also wanted to know what happened to Dasin Hausa Dam in Adamawa State, which was meant to mitigate the effects of water released from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon but has been in the drawing board since early 1990’s.
The minister said it was still on the drawing board, adding that even if the dam is built, it will not help much since, according to him, the water released from the Lagdo Dam contributes only about one per cent to the floods in Nigeria.
“You cannot stop flooding; it’s a natural phenomenon just like you cannot stop earthquake.
“So, people should not be building illegally on water courses.
“If you have a water course, if you think that you will see it dry for 10 or 20 years, it doesn’t mean in the 100 years water will not come.
“We have for hundreds of years been deforesting our land We have degraded the land.
“So when rain comes, they wash sand into the river and the rivers are silted up.
“When the runoffs come, it is more than the capacity of the river bed; it will spill into the banks and flood the areas.
“We need to do watershed management. And this is not a federal matter.
“We provide the guidelines but individuals in communities need to be doing this themselves.
“All these things need you to go down to the community level; you cannot expect everything will come from Abuja, the Federal Capital.
“That is not how to run things. Every citizen has a responsibility,” the minister stressed.
