ZION B-BC NEWSLETTER. A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. [VOL. 4. NO 111. 27 September, 2015.} “…ONLY The Truth, Will Set You Free! (John.8:32).
CAMEROON’S LAGDO DAM EXCESS WATER SHOULD NOT FLOOD NIGERIA AGAIN IN 2015!
A gradual re-enactment of a flooded nation might have silently crept in on Nigerians in a most unusual and uncanny manner, all within three calendar years of an unsavoury experience of submerging waters of 2012 AD, now documented in the annals of history as an unpleasant disaster of national dimension! Presently, Adamawa and Benue States which had the greatest casualty figures in 2012 have again turned out be the worst hit as both have recorded alarming statistics of disaster since the rains began in torrents. In Adamawa alone, it was reported that nine Local Government Areas (LGAs), have been flooded out of 21, and over 50 communities submerged in Kiri Dam while not less than 10 persons drowned and about one million people would be affected as malnutrition had also hit the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in the State! In Benue State, the situation is virtually identical as several LGAs have equally been submerged in Makurdi, Gboko in the ensuing deluge with over 3.000 houses submerged, lives and properties running into billions of naira having been lost and thousands of IDPs languishing in various improvised camps! Water should normally be man’s greatest asset in view of the immense role it plays in sustaining the human life animals and vegetation through rainfalls and man-made dams for hydro-electricity and irrigation for agriculture as it is widely assumed and believed that “WATER HAS NO ENEMY! During the creation of the Heaven and the Earth according to biblical account, the earth was without form and totally submerged under the deep waters until God created the dry land (earth crust ) from beneath the waters which scientists agree now occupy two-thirds of the world as seas and oceans! The ante-dilluvians who perished in the first floods that wiped out the entire universe of that period never believed that incessant and persistent rainfall of 40 days and 40 nights like that of Prophet Noah’s dispensation could turn out to be their very undoing because the man of God and his family (only eight people), survived the deluge in obedience to build an Ark, and subsequently became the nuclei of our present generation of the earth pilgrims! The flooding scenarios being witnessed in Nigeria since August 2015 and the disaster data recorded so far point in the direction that rural waterways and river basins dwellers’ did not believe in weather forecasts and flood alerts by professional meteorologists in respect of weather conditions during the wet seasons! Unlike the year 2012 when Nigeria recorded one of the heaviest down-pour in history coupled with the sudden unannounced and unprecedented release of excess water from Cameroon’s LAGDO DAM, there had been early warnings by both National and States Emergency Management Agencies (NEMAs), of another flooding of several States during the 2015 rainy season! Why would survivors of the 2012 national flooding disaster return to dwell on the waterways having lost their loved ones, properties and farmlands in the past in spite of the much publicised monetary and structural palliatives appropriated by both the National and State Governments to relocate and alleviate their plight and sufferings? Reports gathered by our investigators indicate the usual hogwash propaganda of the immediate past administration which was very fund of running government activities and policy directions on the print and electronic media while the social contact with the citizen remained in abeyance played out again as all allocated monies are yet to be accounted for! Victims of the unfortunate deluge who moved upland were treated like some undeserving internally displaced persons for a few weeks and later abandoned to their fate afterwards! Some who were interviewed in Kogi State confessed that their occupation as farmers and fishermen would always keep them nearest the waterways and basins where they could afford cheap accommodation commensurate to their livelihood since government would not provide alternative domicile abode for them! We were aware that some billions of naira was appropriated by the Federal Government to the States as intervention funds to succour and alleviate the plight of flood victims while donor agencies also contributed financially to support the helpless and hapless citizens of the unfortunate flood to build low-cost houses for them, but from various negative reports in respect of the disbursements, it has become imperative for the new government of President Buhari to institute and inquiry to authenticate whether the funds actually served the intended purposes or not! Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, confirmed our investigations when he said that the impact of the money released by the Federal Government after the 2012 flood was not felt in the State because the fund was diverted! Should there continue to be a recurrence of national flood disasters as being witnessed again in 2015? Must we be the laughing stock among the comity of nations in every issue of the social contract with the citizens? Are we the only country in the world through which damned rivers flowed and whereas, dams were constructed to serve as assets and not liabilities to all nations? A Dam is built as barrier across a river to hold back the water for variety of reasons namely: Control flooding; Store water for drinking and irrigation; To improve navigation or produce thermal power; To create artificial lakes and reservoirs as refuge for wildlife and also for recreation. When the Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam was constructed on River Benue, south of the city of Garoua between 1977 and 1982, it was intended to supply electricity to the Northern part of the country and also to allow for irrigation of about 15.000 hectares of crops downstream. According to its construction statistics, Lagdo Dam which is 308m long, 40m in height and 9m thick had performed optimally until the year 2012 when it had to suddenly discharge excess waters without prior notice or warning to Nigerian authorities! Could the Cameroon government be totally blamed for that disaster even when Nigeria was advised to build a BUFFER DAM downstream (precisely in present day Adamawa State) in the early 80s while Lagdo was still under construction to counter excess waters when it began operation? Thirty-three years down the line Adamawa State could only boast of some dredging and excavations at Dasin Hausa site and not a Buffer Dam! The great deluge that devastated, devoured and consumed Adamawa, Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Gombe, Kebbi, Yobe, Taraba Kano, Bauchi , Katsina and Oyo States and which disrupted businesses, livelihood which massively destroyed lives, infrastructures and public institutions would definitely have been avoided if a righteous government had been in place! Nigeria is still counting her losses of men and material of 2012 – losses if converted to hard currencies, could have built more than FIVE DAMS since 1982, when Lagdo was completed! It is however gratifying that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was signed between Nigeria and Cameroon in 2013 to share information on rainfall and how to manage excess water without leading to flood disasters. The Agreement also stipulated that before excess water could be released from Lagdo Dam, Nigeria should have been adequately warned in order to put proactive measures in place to prevent destruction of lives and properties. Cameroon authorities have kept their word in respect of the MOU because alert of impending release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam had been communicated to Nigerian authorities and all stakeholders – especially- the National and States Emergency Management Agencies who have swung into action since early August 2015 to warn communities along River Benue of possible flood between early September to November 2015! States likely to be affected this year by river flooding apart from Adamawa, Benue and Kogi are Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi,Sokoto and Anambra States while coastal flooding resulting from sea level rise and tidal surges will likely occur in Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers and Lagos States and flash floods could be experienced in some urban locations such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Birnin Kebbi, Ibadan and other towns along the country’s coast line.According to the Encyclopedia of Earth, River Benue mainstream rises on the Adamawa Plateau in Northern Cameroon and certain tributaries rise in the South Eastern mountainous regions of Chad and its major tributaries are the Gongola River and the Mayo-Kebbi, which connect it with the Logone River when flood-stage is occurring. After exiting Cameroon, River Benue proceeds West, south of the Mandara mountains passing the city of Yola (Jimeta) to Makurdi, prior to discharging to the River Niger at Lokoja, the confluence city. The way forward in the interim is for the new Federal Government to complete the abandoned Dasin Hausa buffer dam in Adamawa State and also repair the submerged 1.2 kilometre Kiri Dam in Guyak LGA, damming the Gongola River, while long term measures should include more buffer dams along Rivers Benue and Katsina –Ala as a permanent solution to the persistent and perennial flooding along the banks of the two rivers and mutual collaboration between all government agencies involved in environmental sanitation assignments! Since there would be further rising water level with the continuous release of Lagdo Dam excess water between September and November 2015, there should be stricter compliance of the mitigating measures of ensuring that wastes and refuse were not dumped into canals and drainages for free flow of flood waters! A word is enough for the wise because the TALAKAWAS , who are the dwellers of the water ways and river basins are the good people who should have better opportunities and fundamental human rights than the selfish and gluttonous politicians of the old regime! Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access, to this newsletter, log on to: facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch or http://www.zfbbc1.blogspot.com, https://www.google.com/+zionfaithbiblebelievingchurch .
If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.
I am, yours sincerely, Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor.08130669886, 08098194390.g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com.
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