The Minister of Water Resources, Prof. Joseph Utsev, confirmed this during a briefing with State House correspondents following the second Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting of the year on Tuesday.

Utsev, also the chairman of the inter-ministerial committee on dams, revealed that the president had approved the rehabilitation of Alau Dam, pending ratification by the FEC.

The committee, established on September 23, 2024, includes the ministers of finance, environment, works, information, and the National Security Adviser as members.

The committee was inaugurated on October 2, 2024 with the goal of assessing dams nationwide and recommending improvements for better usage.

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A sub-committee, co-opting members from the Nigeria Society of Engineers, the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, and the Council of Dams Experts in Nigeria, was formed.

The committee has assessed around 35 dams and produced recommendations.

An interim report was presented to the Federal Executive Council.

“So, the committee swooped into action and brought out recommendations of about 35 dams that have been assessed so far.

“Today the interim report was presented to the Federal Executive Council. The Alau Dam is very critical. We saw some challenges as a result of flooding on September 10, 2024.

“The assessment of the remaining 34 dams is ongoing, and will be presented to the Federal Executive Council and the entire Nigerians,” Utsev said.

Utsev assured that the Borno government was working closely with the sub-committee to begin the project, aiming to complete the first phase before July.

He added that decilting will begin in December, with the entire project expected to take 24 months to complete.

Source: NAN

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Utsev issued this warning during the official unveiling of the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook, AFO, on Monday in Abuja.

The theme of this year’s AFO is “Promoting the Use of Data Analytics and Modeling for Flood Risk Assessments and Food Security.”

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA, leads AFO yearly predictions.

The identified states are: Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Kogi.

Others are: Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Yobe.

Utsev emphasised the importance of proactive measures to mitigate potential flood impacts in these areas.

He said there was need for preparedness, early warning systems, and community engagement to minimise damage to lives and property.

The minister said that the high flood risk areas spanned from April to November 2024; with potential impacts on population, agriculture, livelihoods, livestock, infrastructure, and the environment.

He highlighted the theme’s alignment with the Presidential Agenda on Food Security as it was central to the current administration’s goal of lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty and advancing towards national prosperity.

Utsev said Nigeria had faced recurrent and severe flood disasters over the years, with 2012 marked as one of the most devastating recorded events.

“The 2022 floods were particularly catastrophic, being termed the worst in the country’s history in terms of impact magnitude.

“The World Bank estimated the total economic damage from the 2022 floods, including damage to residential and non-residential buildings, infrastructure, productive sectors, and farmlands, at approximately 6.68 billion dollars.

“In response to the ongoing challenges posed by flooding, President Bola Tinubu initiated the National Economic Council Ad-hoc Committee on Flood Mitigation, Adaptation, Preparedness, and Response,’’ he said.

The minister said the committee’s mandate was to proactively develop a comprehensive roadmap aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s flood mitigation, preparedness, adaptation, and communication infrastructure.

Earlier, Prof. Charles Anosike, Director General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, said that the partnership between NIHSA and his organisation, was pivotal in enhancing the nation’s disaster preparedness.

He said that the collaboration had notably improved efforts in mitigating the impact of flooding through early warning systems.

According to him, it was a critical initiative aimed at addressing the escalating frequency and severity of flooding incidents across the country.

He underscored the imperative of leveraging data, analytics, and modelling in flood risk assessment and management, citing NIMET’s commitment to providing comprehensive meteorological insights for informed decision-making.

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Referencing a UNICEF report on the extensive damage inflicted by flooding on agricultural lands in the previous year, he stressed the urgency of integrating forecast information into national policies and interventions.

He reaffirmed NIMET’s dedication to collaborating with NIHSA and other stakeholders to deliver timely and accurate weather forecasts tailored to meet the diverse needs of communities nationwide.

Zubaida Umar, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, underscored the significance of the AFO released by NIHSA.

Umar noted the increasing prevalence of flooding in Nigeria and its devastating consequences, including loss of lives, property damage, displacement, and disruption of livelihoods.

She stressed the urgent need for proactive measures to mitigate the impact of flooding across the country.

Umar commended the AFO as a crucial tool for informed decision-making and action to enhance the nation’s preparedness for floods, noting the longstanding partnership between NEMA and NIHSA in flood risk management.

She said that NEMA relied on the AFO to develop its annual Climate Related Hazard preparedness and response strategy, which served as an early warning message for Nigeria.

On his part, Clement Nze, NIHSA Director-General, harped on the need to promote a better understanding of flood risks and implementing appropriate mitigation measures to address the challenges of flooding in Nigeria.

He stressed the essential role of encouraging collaboration among disaster risk managers, earth observers, mission makers, and other stakeholders to enhance preparedness and flood control measures.

Nze said the collaborative efforts were critical to effectively managing flood risks and minimising the impact of flooding on communities and infrastructure across the country.

Source: NAN

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The minister had, during his visit to the Oyan Dam on Tuesday, asserted that the water released from the Oyan Dam in Ogun State was not responsible for the annual flooding in some parts of the states.

Utsev declared that dams were mainly responsible for the control of flooding and irrigation for agricultural purposes, and the Oyan Dam could not have been responsible for the flooding.

“The condition of the 270 million cubic water reservoir is perfect and it could not have caused the recent flooding in the states,” he said.

However, the residents faulted the minister, noting that the dam failed to release water at the appropriate time of the year due to its commercialisation and the cage fishing activities going on in the dam.

The residents expressed surprise that the minister who claimed to come all the way from Abuja on a fact finding mission based on flood alerts, refused to grant the suffering residents audience but listened to Indians who in collaboration with the Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority prioritised fishing at the expense of human lives in their communities.

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Speaking under the auspices of the Isheri North GRA Community Development Association, the residents said it is unfortunate that the minister could go ahead to give such unguided utterances without a proper assessment of the situation.

The residents said that while the management of the Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority had, in a document issued in September 2022 agreed that  commercial fishing activities could be confined to levels below 56m above sea level, it had  refused to implement the agreement.

The River Basins Development Authorities Act Chapter R9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN, 2004, specifies the functions of the OORBDA to include undertaking comprehensive development of both surface and underground water resources for multipurpose use with emphasis on irrigation, infrastructure and  flood controls.

Under the law, OORBDA is also responsible for the water released from the Oyan Dam reservoir until the water enters the Lagos Lagoon on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the residents, the  record of water releases from 1992 to 2002  showed that the dam could be managed differently.

Within this period, they said there were no water releases during the months of August, September, October and November.

They said that flood control downstream of Oyan Dam reservoir was feasible if the reservoir was emptied and then filled with minimal water releases during the period  of August, September, October and November.

According to them, the dam was not designed for industrial fishing but recreational, adding that the Ogun State government never issued any recreational and or industrial fishing licenses to the companies at the dam.

The residents wondered why their lives and properties  must be put at risk to just satisfy the commercial interest of some individuals.

“Why should private enterprises with zero investment in the construction of Oyan Dam be allowed to use the reservoir in such a way as to defeat one of the priority purposes, that is, flood control, for which the dam was built?”

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