Nigeria may experience floods again, Water Resources Minister warns

Sarah Ochekpe say Nigerians must brace themselves up for the floods that might submerge various parts of the country.
The Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, said on Tuesday that the country may witness the massive flooding that eroded many parts of the nation in 2012.
Scores of people were killed and thousands of homes destroyed across several states in 2012 from floods resulting from high rainfall, release of water from a Cameroonian dam (Lagdo), and others.
The Minister, speaking at a meeting with presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe, in her office said the flooding will result from torrential rainfall as well as opening of the Lagdo Dam by the Cameroonian authorities as was the case last year.
She, therefore, advised the states and other citizens living in flood prone communities to take precautionary measures.
The head of media in Mr. Okupe’s office, Bamidele Salam, quotes Ms. Ochekpe as saying in view of the fact that the Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam being constructed by the Federal Government in Taraba State to reduce the impact of water released from Cameroon is not yet completed, there is a need for concerted efforts by state governments to mitigate the likely effect of the large volume of water that may be released from the Cameroonian dam in the peak of the raining season.
While stating that Nigeria and Cameroon have reached a substantial level of understanding on how to prevent an occurrence of the devastation caused to Nigerian communities last year, the Water Resources Minister urged state governments to complement this initiative by clearing drainage and evacuating people from flood plains.
She also disclosed that work is at various advanced stages on twenty three dam projects which the Jonathan administration embarked upon to provide safe water for different communities, irrigation for farmers, and generate additional megawatts for the power sector in the country.
Ms. Ochekpe said six of the dams located in Imo, Ondo, Katsina, Abia, and the Federal Capital Territory are ready for commissioning while the Kashimbilla multi- purpose dam will be ready before the next raining season.
Speaking earlier, Mr. Okupe said the present administration has made the most impact on all sectors of the Nation’s socio-economic landscape than previous administrations.
He stressed the need for greater collaboration between the Ministry of Water Resources and his department in order to effectively transmit the giant strides of the Transformation Agenda in the Water sector to the public.