Dr. Iziaq Salako, the Minister of State for Environment, believes that the reopening of Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam will not cause as much flooding as it did last year.
Just a few days ago, Nigeria’s neighboring country opened the dam, prompting governments and agencies to put local communities on high alert.
However, during an interview on Monday, Dr. Salako mentioned that there has been a proposal to construct an additional dam in Adamawa State, aimed at mitigating the overflow of water from the Cameroonian dam.
“The Ministry is aware, and I am sure most Nigerians are aware, that Cameroon wants to open that dam. But thankfully, it is not a sudden opening. So, the management of the opening of that dam is going to cause a less severe burden than we envisage,” he said.
“Compared to 2022, we do not envisage seeing such kind of thing that we saw in 2022. However, there have been a lot of warnings, alerts, and requests for people who are living on the banks of River Benue to relocate to higher ground.
“We expect that some flooding will occur as a result of the opening of that dam, and it is inevitable, because if the dam itself overflows on its own. The disaster that it will cause will be worse.
“It is better to have a managed release of the water in the dam to ensure that the damage is not much,” the minister added.
His comment comes after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alerted the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) over impending flooding along the River Benue basin.
This information was conveyed in a letter dated August 21, signed by Umar Salisu, the Director of African Affairs at the Ministry.
The letter indicated that the Cameroonian government intends to “commence the release of water from the Lagdo Dam on the Benue River in the coming days.” It further explained that this action was prompted by the substantial rainfall occurring in the dam’s catchment area in Northern Cameroon.