September 03, (THEWILL) – The August break is over and the rains are gradually coming back. On Friday, many cities and communities across the country, including Lagos and Kano, experienced downpours. Nigerians living in coastal and flood-prone areas are already apprehensive as they are getting prepared for another round of the perennial flooding which usually comes with massive devastation, bringing with it tears, sorrow and death to the affected areas.
The Federal Government recently raised the alarm over the effects of the opening of the Ladgo Dam in Cameroon on Nigerians living around flood-prone areas. The government however allayed the fears of many Nigerians, saying it would put measures in place to minimise the expected flood. According to the Federal Government, it would be inconceivable for it to stand and watch the loss of lives and property of Nigerians, hence the timely warning.
Speaking on the matter during a coordinating meeting by the Ministries of Humanitarian Affairs, Water Resources, Environment, Health, among others, in Abuja last week, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, advised states and local government councils to adopt safety measures to avoid the impending flood that is expected as a result of the recent opening of Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.
“This coordinating meeting is being held at the instance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who directed such after I raised the issue of flooding in today’s Federal Executive Council meeting. Mr President directed that all relevant ministries must meet to find a solution to the issue of flooding.
“As earlier stated, the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon was recently opened recently and we will see the effect in the coming days. Flood has been a major issue in Nigeria and has been causing loss of lives and property. We have been given a task by Mr President to ensure proper preparedness against the effect of the opening of the Lagdo Dam.
“One of the things that government in different states must begin to do is to ensure that drainages are cleaned. Blockages must be removed. Also, proper enlightenment and sensitization of residents must be carried out. Residents in affected areas must begin to relocate to safer planes.
”States must stand up to involuntary relocations. It is inconceivable to witness avoidable loss of lives and property.,” the minister said, adding, “Other short-term measures must be adopted by states to safeguard loss of lives and property. We will be working with other ministries, states, relevant agencies and stakeholders to ensure the provision of items to affected states.”
Minister of Environment and Ecological Management, Ishak Salako, has also assured that his Ministry will continue to give hourly warnings on rising water levels as he urged the states to step up their preparation to mitigate the flood.
“The flood early warning system is domiciled with the Ministry of Environment and it is ongoing. Apart from the opening of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon, we are issuing hourly alerts on River Benue, River Niger and others. We are alerting Nigerians on the water level. We hope that will help us to alert our people to take precautionary measures to relocate to safer places,” Salako said.
Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, who called for synergy in disaster management said: “We are trying to look at the short term measures. The level of flood is presently under control, but as rain continues to fall, flood may certainly set in. So, what are the measures put in place? So, we are calling on Nigerians at state and local government levels to clean their drainages and keep the environment clean to curb flooding.”
We are glad that timely warning signals are already on as we urge every state and local government to start taking action now instead of waiting to be caught unawares. Now that there is appropriate coordination among the various Ministries concerned, we want to believe that the impact and devastation this time around would be minimal.
