The federal government, through the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), has announced plans to construct five buffer dams across the country targeted at addressing the recurrent flooding caused by the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.
Director-General of NIHSA, Umar Mohammed, disclosed this during an interview monitored on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Thursday.
The agency also urged Nigerians living in flood-prone areas to evacuate to safer locations as the annual release of water from the Lagdo Dam is expected to trigger flooding.
States identified as being at high risk of flooding include Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Rivers.
Speaking on behalf of the Director-General, NIHSA’s Director of Operations and Hydrology, Femi Bejide, said a report had been submitted to the Presidency, emphasising the need to de-silt some of Nigeria’s dams as part of the proposed solution.
He said, “What has to be done also is that there’s a report that has been submitted to the Presidency.
“We have to have buffer dams and five have been proposed and the Federal Government is looking at that already.
“But in the interim, some of our dams have to be de-silted, the tributaries of River Niger and Benue have to be expanded.
“I learnt that there is a little issue with the design and they are trying to amend the design. I believe that in the next two to three years that would have been put in place.”
In a related development, the Kwara state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Thursday, visited Bode Saadu town to sympathise with its residents following recent downpours that overflew the Arinun Bridge and submerged many houses in the area.
Accompanied by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Hon. John Bello and Special Adviser (Special Duties) Abdulrazaq Jiddah, the governor went round the affected areas in the community to have a firsthand account of the situation.
“We are here to commiserate with the people of Bode Saadu and make sure that everybody is okay and look at the causes of the flood,” he told reporters on the sideline of the visit.
“We have realised that with the major work going on with the dualisation of the Ilorin-Mokwa Road by the Federal Ministry of Works, they have built a temporary bypass. Somehow, there are some challenges around the bypass, which experts will look into. That is the cause of the flooding. The Director of Highway Federal Ministry of Works and other experts are on their way here to find an immediate solution to the problem. We have also deployed the State Emergency Management Agency for some relief measures.”