Lagdo Dam and the difficulty of managing flood risk in Nigeria

The Republic of Cameroon recently expressed its intention to activate the flood gates of the Lagdo dam in a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Given the nightmare releases of water from the dam have previously caused riverine areas within the River Benue catchment area, temporarily leaving their homes and moving to higher grounds in the ensuing days or weeks may be the wisest move at this time; the episode in 2022 was the worst in recent years.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other pertinent organisations have also given the locals advice on what steps they need take to keep safe and safeguard their homes and crops.

According to NEMA data, the floods that resulted from the dam’s water release in 2022 caused the displacement of no less than 1.4 million people, the deaths of over 603 individuals, and the injuries of over 2,400 people.

Additionally, 82,035 homes were destroyed, and 332,327 hectares of land were impacted.

Sadiya Farouq, Nigeria’s former minister of humanitarian affairs, attributed the severity of the catastrophe to the various levels of government’s inaction.

The minister appeared to defend the federal government by writing on Twitter, “There was enough warning and information about the 2022 flood, but states, local governments, and communities appear not to take heed,”

Every year, water from the Lagdo dam in the north is released into the neighbouring country of Cameroon, which borders Nigeria on its east. In Nigeria, this typically results in flooding downstream.

The two nations agreed to build a twin dam on the Nigerian side of the dam in the 1980s to control the overflow, but that plan was never carried through.

As a result, the Nigerian government agreed to construct the Dasin Hausa Dam in Adamawa State as a shock-absorber dam to lessen the impact of any potential flooding from the Lagdo dam in Cameroon.

Approximately 13 states in Nigeria, including Kogi, Benue, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe, are affected by the release of water from this dam.

Other states include Bayelsa, Niger, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, and Cross River.

The Lagdo dam, which was constructed to provide energy to the northern region of Cameroon and enable the irrigation of 15,000 hectares of crops downstream, was intended to be two and a half times larger than the Dasin Hausa dam.

Similar to the Lagdo dam, the dam project at the Dasin Village of Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State was intended to irrigate around 150,000 hectares of land in Adamawa, Taraba, and Benue States and produce 300 megawatts of energy.

But regrettably, the Nigerian government has not finished constructing the Dasin Hausa dam since 1982.

As a result, settlements in Kogi, Benue, and north-eastern states flood whenever the government of Cameroon releases too much water from the Lagdo dam.

The Senate has advised the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation to reconsider the planned building of Dasin Hausa Dam and any other dam to take in the flood waters from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon in order to stop the annual floods.

The ministry’s compendium, which examined the state of the water resources sector, also showed that there were numerous abandoned and unfinished projects dotting the pre-2015 landscape.

It revealed that 116 water supply, dam, hydropower, and irrigation projects were inherited, some of which had already begun construction in the 1980s and were either incomplete or abandoned.

Regarding infrastructure development, Nigeria has more than 400 dams spread around the nation, each with a capacity to supply 11.2 billion cubic metres (BCM) of water for agriculture, 900 MCM for water supply, and 18 BCM for the production of hydropower.

Unfortunately, despite requests from stakeholders, the parent government does not appear to view the Dasin Hausa dam as a priority.

According to the ministry’s 2023 budget, ERGP28110523 was designated for the study and design of the Dasin Hausa dam.

When approached, the ministry’s Director of Dams and Reservoirs declined to comment on the project’s status, stating that all inquiries should be made to the Minister.

Mr. Akugbe Iyamu, President of the Environment Protection and Climate Change Experts, implores the Nigerian government and its sub-nationals to put emergency preparations in place to prevent potential floods as the rains get heavier.

According to Iyamu, a contingency plan will aid stakeholders in successfully preparing, responding, and managing flood hazards, including displaced people and food security.

He urged on states in the downstream zones to take steps to prevent a flood calamity because he claimed that water from the dam might cause more than 40% of Nigeria’s territory to flood.

Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation Prof. Joseph Utsev also urged the states to take precautions against flood situations.

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), according to Utsev, has seen a surge in the volume of flow along the River Benue system, recording a flow level of 8.97 metres today.

In comparison to a flow level of 8.80 metres on the same date in 2022, he claimed that this was negligible.

Likewise, in order to prevent any flood situations, NIHSA Director-General Mr. Clement Nze said the organisation will keep an eye on water levels in rivers all around the nation.

We keep a close eye on all of the rivers, and when the rainy season approaches its height, many of the Benue tributaries’ rivers could overflow, whether or not Cameroon transfers water into Nigeria.

With the exception of the Katsina-Ala River, which supplies 26% of River Benue, most of those rivers are not dammed.

“There could be flooding from that axis if the rainfall intensifies more and which we are monitoring,” he said.

As the Federal Government (FG) cannot do it alone, the director-general suggested that states should support FG’s efforts by educating their citizens about flood disaster avoidance.

Since their citizens are already aware of the flashpoints, states should follow the federal government in educating their citizens.

“The state emergency management agencies are aware of the sites, and they should remove individuals promptly as necessary.

“Flood difficulties arise in communities, and states must accept accountability for them. They must act more quickly, educate the public, and move their citizens to safer areas.

In order to help the people, he said that they “should augment the relief materials that NEMA is providing, and they should be on standby in all those flood flashpoints.”

Nze noted that the FG established the Presidential Committee for Flood Relief and Rehabilitation (PCFRR) to generate money and aid flood victims following the 2012 flood occurrences.

He added that several states have working flood hostels and that it was their responsibility to help the committee’s work to mitigate the immediate consequences of floods and aid in the recovery of those impacted.

He claimed that the committee, which was co-chaired by Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN, received N12 billion in contributions from both private citizens and business entities.

He claimed that the committee had been pleading with the states to assume control of these facilities for general public use as well as flood crises.

According to experts, flood management, response, and prevention should be prioritised.

They claim that flooding has had a significant influence on people’s lives, the nation’s agriculture, social, economic, and infrastructure goals. Its task should be met with all possible effort.