By Emma Okereh Piqued by recurring flooding that devastates communities in Nigeria at rainy seasons and the attendant helplessness of governments at stemming the tide, the Africa Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF), called on the federal government to explore the agreements reached with Cameroun on Lagdo dam. Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Thursday, at a news conference, the executive director of AYGF, Dr Arome Salifu expressed worry that Nigeria has not been proactive in finding permanent solution to the issues of flooding but is rather reactionary after devastations caused by flood.
He lamented the loss suffered by Nigerian communities in the 2022 September, October flooding. The statement reads in part: ” It is disheartening that communities across 33 out of the 36+1 states in Nigeria have been systematically cut off from each other because of the unfortunately flooding that took place in these states between September and October, 22 as a result of heavy downpour and major my the overflowing of River Banks as a result of the opening of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun”.
He lamented that over 160 communities in Kogi state, 300 communities in Bayelsa and other states in Nigeria were submerged which results in a number of deaths and the displacement of over 2.5 million people with many in and out of IDP camps. He said the incident equally resulted in the huge rise of reported cases of cholera, malaria and other waterborne diseases as announced by UNICEF.
He also stated that ” The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), also affirms that over 7,750 recorded cholera cases across 31 out of 35 states in Nigeria and still counting with likelihood of many deaths in days and weeks to come if there is no significant response”.
Consequently, the AYGF executive director urged the federal government, non- state actors and all stakeholders to dredge the rivers some more feet lower to prevent the water from overflowing its banks at the slightest opportunity. He also recommended that people living around the rivers should be educated and enlightened on the dancers of building and living on floor prone areas even as he added that they could also be elevated to higher levels above sea level. He urged the federal government to follow up duly on the Lagdo Dam in Cameron as that was one of the major causes and make plans to locate and construct similar dam in Nigeria in order to regulate and manage the floor while taking advantage of the agricultural, industrial and technological opportunities that could come with such landmark hydro infrastructure. AYGF called on governments at all levels, donors, NGOs and CSOs, large local and foreign religious groups, private sector and corporate businesses to join hands together to provide emergency humanitarian support to the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria insisting that flooding must not be allowed to compound and complicate the already worsening socio-economic situation of the people.
