Nigeria’s perennial flooding and effect of Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam

IN mid-September this year, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) issued a warning that up to 13 states in Nigeria would experience flooding.

The director general of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed, said the following states would be flooded. Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa. Speaking on September 19, he said Nigerians should expect Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba dams located in Nigeria to overflow between then and the end of October.

He then added that the situation would worsen with the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in the Republic of Cameroon.

He explained that “Based on our communication with the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), the Lagdo Dam operators in the Republic of Cameroon have commenced the release of excess water from the reservoir by 13th September 2022.

“We are aware that the released water cascades down to Nigeria through River Benue and its tributaries thereby inundating communities that have already been impacted by heavy precipitation.

“The released water complicates the situation further downstream as Nigeria’s inland reservoirs including Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro are also expected to overflow between now and October ending according to NIHSA.

“According to NIHSA, Kainji and Jebba dams have already started spilling excess water from their reservoirs.

“This will have serious consequences on frontline states and communities along the courses of rivers Niger and Benue.”

True to the NEMA DG’s words, those “serious consequences” have now materialised. In recent times, news reports have been awash with stories of flooding in various states. These cases of flooding witnessed this year are of catastrophic proportions. 

 

2022 floods so far and the effects

Benue State has been affected by flooding from early September this year. Reports have it that 3,274 people were affected while about 1,213 houses were destroyed. Farmlands and crops have been destroyed and livelihoods affected.

Benue State is called the food basket of Nigeria. With the destruction of several hectares of farm land, the food crisis in Nigeria will worsen. Jigawa State also experienced flooding in September. A total of 92 people have been reported dead from flooding in Jigawa. This is apart from the loss of property, livelihood and infrastructure.

In Anambra State, 651,053 persons in six local government areas have been reportedly displaced by floods.

Other states affected by flooding recently include Federal Capital Territory, Borno, Ebonyi, River State, Bauchi.

However, the flood incident of Kogi stands out. The actual number of casualties in Kogi is untold.

However, it is such that the governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of national disaster due to flooding in Kogi.

According to him, “flooding has affected the nine local government areas which lie along the Rivers Niger and Benue, namely, Lokoja, Kogi-Koto, Ajaokuta, Ofu, Igalamela-Odolu, Bassa, Idah, Ibaji and Omala. Ibaji is almost 100% under water while the rest range from 30% up. Other inland LGAs also have some degree of flooding from smaller rivers and tributaries.”

The ripple effect of Kogi’s flooding has been felt in the nation’s capital. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has blamed the current queues at fuel stations in Abuja on the flooding in Lokoja, Kogi State.

A statement issued by the agency stated that “the fuel queues are caused by unprecedented flooding in Lokoja, Kogi State, which has submerged a greater part of the city and grounded all vehicular movements. “This unfortunately has affected the distribution of petroleum products to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and environs.” 

 

NEMA’s 2022 flood warning is not the first 

The warning issued by the NEMA DG and his reference to the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon in September this year was not the first. About seven years ago, the then DG of NEMA, Muhammad Sidi, told the public that Nigerian states along River Benue area could be flooded as the authorities in Cameroon announced plans to release excess water from Lagdo Dam between August and November that year. In 2015, warning came after a similar exercise in 2012 resulted in a flood disaster affecting a number of states in the country. This warning by NEMA about the release of water from Lagdo seems to have become an annual ritual that the concerned authorities have not heeded.

 

Lagdo Dam 

Lagdo Dam is located in the Northern Province of Cameroon. It was built over a period of five years and began operating in 1982. 

The dam is located 50 km south of the city of Garoua on the Benue River. Its construction was intended to supply electricity to the northern part of the country and allow the irrigation of 15,000 hectares of crops downstream. 

States in north-eastern Nigeria namely Borno, Adamawa and Taraba that are downstream within the River Benue drainage basin are usually flooded whenever water is released from the Lagdo reservoir. It was reported that following the completion of the Lagdo Dam, the Nigerian government, according to an agreement, was to embark on a similar project along River Benue. 

The purpose of the dam was to contain the flood water released upstream from Lagdo Dam and prevent flooding and the attendant destruction of property and loss of lives. It was to be located in Dasin Village of Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State. 

However, till date, the proposed dam is yet to become a reality. 

In 2012, Director of Dams in the Ministry of Water Resources, Dr Emmanuel Adanu, told the Environews Nigeria in a report that “It is now imperative for the Federal Government to build a bumper dam to cushion the effect of water released by Lagdo Dam. We are already taking steps to do the construction and we have started looking at how we can improve on the old design. The size of the dam we are looking at will take us 36 months to finish it but right now we know that the original feasibility study that was done in 1982 is a bit outdated. 

“The Cameroonian government finished the construction of Lagdo Dam in 1982, but Nigeria is yet to develop its own dam. So anytime the Cameroonian government wants to release water from the dam, they always alert the Nigerian government so as to evacuate people to avert casualties. “The proposed dam, when built, will be 1.4km long, 40mm deep and contain 16 cubic litres of water. Aside from being used for flood control, the dam also has some economic benefits like its ability to irrigate 150,000 farmlands and hold 20,000 tons of fish annually.” 

The flooding catastrophe of this year is a strong message to the Federal Government to expedite action on this buffer dam project and save Nigerians from the perennial loss of lives, property and livelihood.