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The Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has pinpointed the insufficient number of dams as a critical factor contributing to the persistent flooding issues faced throughout the country, indicating a pressing need for improved water management infrastructure.
On Friday, during a visit to the Oyan Dam in Abeokuta, Ali Dala, the Director of Dams and Reservoirs Operations, disclosed this important finding as the Technical Sub-committee of the Inter-ministerial Technical Committee undertook its assessment of dam infrastructures across Nigeria.
Expressing concern over the flooding crisis, Dala underscored the importance of building more dams while also advocating for the desilting of older dams and rivers to remove sediment buildup and blockages, thereby tackling the flooding problem that continues to affect communities nationwide.
While speaking to journalists during the visit, Dala said, “I have said it, and even the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation has mentioned it a number of times, that for us to control flood adequately in Nigeria, we need more dams”.
Dala said dams are essentially built to control flooding as they help in holding down large water for gradual release when such water won’t cause flooding.
Read also: Lagdo Dam Release Triggers Serious Flooding In Edo
He added, “We also need to desilt some of our aged dams, because those dams have been there for a long while, and as a result, sediments have deposited.
“Countries like the US have at the moment, 92,000 dams, China has about 98,000 dams but in Nigeria, we have only 408 registered dams. So, I believe that by the time we also improve on the number of dams in the country, flooding will be a thing of the past or will be drastically reduced to the barest minimum.”
