80% of flood is water we are blessed with from the sky, not from Cameroon dam, says Minister

The Federal Government has stated that excess water from the Lagbo Dam in Cameroon is not responsible for the flooding that has affected parts of Nigeria, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.

Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, stated this at the 2023 budget defence of the ministry before the Senate Committee on Water Resources in Abuja on Thursday.

In a statement made available to NAN on Thursday from the Director, Information of the Ministry, Mrs Offie Kenechukwu, the minister said that the inflow from the dam to Nigeria is only one per cent.

Adamu made the clarification due to the belief and misconception of some Nigerians who have been blaming Cameroon for the upsurge in Nigeria’s flooding.

“Yes, the dam releases water, sometimes it releases water without notice and when they do that, it has an impact on communities downstream.

“It is not the main reason you have a flood in this country. The tributaries of River Benue are the main cause. And this year, the rains have been unprecedented,” the minister said in the statement.

Adamu said the transboundary water that comes into Nigeria from rivers Niger and Benue constitutes only 20 per cent of the freshwater that flows into the country.

“Eighty per cent of the flood is the water we are blessed with from the sky falling on Mambila and Jos Plateau. Most of this flow is from Nigeria,” he said.

The minister said that the Federal Government is not often informed by the Cameroonian government on the annual release of water from the Lagbo Dam.

“It took a lot of effort for us for them to sign an MoU to inform Nigeria about releases.

“It was signed in 2016. Since then, every year, when the flood season comes, it is the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency that calls them to know their level of water.

“We can not blame the flood this year on Cameroon. We can only blame them for violating the terms of the MoU,” Adamu said.

The Minister announced that the government would call for a review of the MoU.

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80% of flood is water we are blessed with from the sky, not from Cameroon dam, says Minister