FG Alerts States, Nigerians On Heavy Floods

The Federal Government has advised state governments and Nigerians living in flood prone communities to take precautionary measures against likely heavy floods occasioned by torrential rainfall, as well as opening of the Lagdo Dam by the Cameroonian authorities as it happened last year. Giving the warning in her office during a meeting with the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, stated that since the Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam being constructed by the Federal Government in Taraba State to reduce the impact of water released from Cameroon was yet to be completed, there was the 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 at the peak of the raining season. While noting that Nigeria and Cameroon had agreed on how to prevent the occurrence of the devastation caused to Nigerian communities last year, Ochekpe enjoined state governments to play their own parts by clearing drainages and evacuating people from flood plains in their states. She also disclosed that the 23 dam projects which the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan began to provide safe water for different communities, irrigation for farmers and generate additional megawatts for the power sector in the country, had reached various advanced stages. Six of the dams, located in Imo, Ondo, Katsina, Abia, and the Federal Capital Territory, according to Ochekpe, were ready for commissioning, while the Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam would be ready before the next raining season.