I have always wondered, every rainy season, why it has been so difficult for Nigeria to build a counterpart dam to contain excess water whenever Cameroon opens the Lagdo Dam.
Tonight on TVC News, I learned that Nigeria actually planned one decades ago. This is the Dasin Hausa Dam in Adamawa State. It was conceived around 1981/82 as a buffer dam downstream of Lagdo. Apart from this purpose, it was supposed to serve for hydroelectricity and irrigation. Yet 40 years plus, it has not been completed.
Each year, when heavy rains fall in both Cameroon and Nigeria, Lagdo Dam eventually reaches capacity. To protect the dam, Cameroon releases water downstream into the Benue River system.
Nigeria, lacking the proposed Dasin Hausa Dam, struggles to absorb the volume. The result is familiar. We have flooded communities, submerged farmlands, damaged roads, displaced families, and huge economic losses.
Of course, the releases from Lagdo dam cannot be the only cause of flooding in Nigeria. Poor drainage, blocked waterways, construction on floodplains, increasingly intense rainfall, poor environmental practices, and climate change also account for this crisis.
So when you begin to hear flood warnings again this year, and NiMet has started, remember the Dasin Hausa Dam, it was supposed to act as buffer. It was conceived but it was never completed.
PS: The current FG administration signed a PPP to work on this dam project in 2025. Let’s be upbeat that it will be completed soon.
#YeahMomentsWithYO!