Federal government says prepare for heavy rains and floods

The Federal Government has again advised state governments and Nigerians to prepare for heavy rains, which it says may lead to flooding this year.

It particularly called on people living in flood-prone communities to take precautionary measures against flood, which may result from torrential rainfall as well as opening of the Lagdo Dam by the Cameroonian authorities, as it happened in 2012.

This warning was given by the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, in a meeting she had with the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in her office on Tuesday.

The minister regretted that the Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam, being constructed by the Federal Government in Taraba State to reduce the impact of water released from Cameroon, was still under construction.

Because of this, she said there was a need for concerted efforts by state governments to mitigate the likely effect of the large volume of water that might be released from the Cameroonian dam at the peak of the raining season.

While stressing that Nigeria and Cameroon had reached a substantial level of understanding on how to prevent recurrence of the devastation caused to Nigerian communities last year, the minister urged state government to complement this initiative by clearing drainages and evacuating people from flood plains in their states.

She said, “The Federal Government will want state governments to evacuate people from the flood-prone areas in their states in order to minimise the effect of flooding in their states.”

The minister also explained that work was at various advanced stages on 23 dam projects, which she said the President Goodluck 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.

Ochekpe said six of the dams located in Imo, Ondo, Katsina, Abia, and the Federal Capital Territory are ready for inauguration, while the Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam will be ready before the next raining season.

Punch