Anambra West communities and others along the banks of rivers Anambra and Benue are in danger of over flooding as Cameroon announced its readiness to open Lagdo Dam. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East and Central African Division, in a letter addressed to the director general of Authorities at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) noted the development is due to increased rainfall in the dam’s catchment areas in Northern Cameroon. The letter urged NEMA to take all the necessary proactive steps and actions to mitigate and avoid the damage that the released water may cause along the river Benue basin in both Cameroon and Nigeria.
It also urged the Agency to sensitize the populace living in such areas to be vigilant and take all necessary precautions.
The letter reads in part: “According to the Note, it is pertinent to note that when the release of water becomes necessary, the authorities of the Lagdo Dam will be releasing only modulated variable small amount of water at a time in order to mitigate and avoid damage that the released water may cause along the river Benue basin in both Cameroon and in Nigeria.”
As usual, the National Emergency Management Agency said it had taken proactive and robust steps to contain floods in states in South-East Nigeria, especially those in riverine and lowland communities. The South East coordinator of NEMA, Mrs Ngozi Echeazu, said that NEMA, in collaboration with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), was also monitoring water levels in major rivers in states in the zone.
The NEMA coordinator said: “This is rightly done to determine when to commence evacuation, since we have already identified higher grounds or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps for temporary shelter. “NEMA has engaged in updating the public through media publicity on seasonal climate prediction and annual flood outlook, as well as sensitisation of riverine communities, in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), on the importance of clearing blocked drainage systems and removing structures on flood plains.”
However, the people in the probable risk areas are apprehensive stemming from past experiences. In 2012 for instance, the Post Disaster Needs Assessment conducted on real GDP growth stated that, “the overall impact of flooding was estimated at 1.4 percent i.e. N570 billion in nominal terms. It affected over seven million people; displaced 2.3 million people, killed 363 persons and destroyed about 597,476 houses in 34 states. “Similarly, in 2018, another devastating flood affected 2,321,592 people, killed 199 people and displaced 722,741 people. Also, 4,107 people were injured with a total of 100,190 houses destroyed. Same in 2019, 130,934 people were affected while 48,114 persons were displaced, 126 people killed and 29,356 houses destroyed.
“Usually, heavy flooding impact on economic, social, cultural and the religious lives of the people. Agricultural products; housing, educational, transportation commercial and infrastructural facilities are destroyed. Good sources of water were polluted and the environment degraded. Hunger, high cost of living, infestation of snakes, flies and other disease vectors and general deplorable living conditions were some of the negative impacts of flooding” an observer told the reporter.
So, the questions people are asking are where are the uplands, what specifically has the agencies practically put in place? Some argue that the annual flooding has become cash-cow to some people who see it as an opportunity to make money without caring about the affected people.
