Nigeria: Maiduguri dam collapse an avoidable tragedy

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The Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) has described the collapse of the Alau Dam in Borno and subsequent inundation of farmlands and hundreds of homes in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as an avoidable tragedy that is due to a disconnect among the coordinating emergency response agencies of government at federal and state levels.

RDI’s position comes on the heels of the collapse of the dam on Tuesday in Maiduguri. The flooding of the communities was said to have begun about a week ago, but reached its peak in the early hours of Tuesday, displacing residents of Fori, Galtimari, Gwange, Bulabulin, and other communities.

In the aftermath of the incident thousands of homes have been submerged, including the palace of the Shehu of Borno among other government facilities in the capital. There has also been a jail break and escape of animals from the Museum Park, further endangering hapless residents. Reports indicate that many animals at the Sanda Kyarimi Park Zoo died as a result of the incident.

In a statement issued in Lagos, RDI said the collapse of the dam was completely avoidable adding that the incident represents failure in governance at all levels since the floods had hitherto been predicted by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), yet no concrete preemptive actions or flood management plan was put in place to safeguard life and property.

Executive Director of RDI, Philip Jakpor said: “Maiduguri may just be the starting point. We had warned severally that the lacklustre approach of the federal and the state governments that have collected about N40 billion in Ecological Funds this year alone to address perennial floods would lead to avoidable catastrophic incidents like this. Perhaps the attention that has attended this case is only because Maiduguri, the state capital, is involved. If it had been in the remote communities there would be less alarm. This is completely damning for the government.”

Jakpor maintained that a dam does not just collapse in one day without notice. “With the intense rains, a proactive management would have known that waters must be released gradually from the dam to avoid a breach. But in this case, the waters had reached a crescendo before the management of the dam raised the alarm.”

The RDI boss pointed out that one or more persons must be held to account for the failure to prevent the collapse of the dam and the monumental losses that the state has recorded and would incur in the days ahead.

He pointed out that Nigerians are yet to see effective and proactive coordination between the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and their state counterparts in response to flooding incidents.

“Unfortunately, what we only read is how the emergency management agencies struggle to share palliatives when such disasters would have been prevented in the first place.

“The Alau Dam collapse is a tragedy that could have been avoided. Until we take preemptive measures to address the fallouts of climate change, we will only continue suffering economic losses and needless loss of lives,” Jakpor stated.