According to the Federal Government’s Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is not to blame for the flooding that has wreaked havoc in several areas of Nigeria.
Adamu revealed this while defending the ministry’s 2023 budget before the Senate on Wednesday in Abuja.
He cleared the notion that the water resulting in the flooding is from Lagbo Dam, saying that the inflow from the dam to Nigeria is only one per cent.
“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 floods in this country. The tributaries of the river Benue are the main cause. And this year, the rains have been unprecedented.
“The transboundary water that even comes into this country 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.
Talking about Nigeria’s agreement with Cameron he said, “It took a lot of effort for us for them to sign an MoU to be informing 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,” he said.
Aliero said, “There has been an insinuation that every year the Cameroonians inform us when they are releasing the water. Is that not true?”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, no fewer than 4,885 families were impacted by the recent floods in Ogun, according to the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Mustapha Ahmed
This was disclosed in Abeokuta during the presentation of relief materials by the agency to the state government for distribution to flood victims.
Represented by the Director, of Special Duties, NEMA, Dr Bandele Onimode, Ahmed said the assessment conducted recently by the agency revealed the statistics.
“The result of the assessment indicated that 4,885 households were affected by the flood,” he said.
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