FLOODING is a worldwide, natural phenomenon which occurs mainly in countries prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, typhoons, flash floods and others. These include south eastern United States, Japan and most countries in South East Asia.

Nigeria is fortunate enough not to have any real natural disasters. The only real disaster we have is the tragedy of corrupt, incompetent, clannish and unpatriotic leaders. That is why, 62 years after our independence, we are yet to master the annual flooding of River Niger and River Benue which have acquired (avoidable) disaster status.

Every year, the River Niger, which rises from Futa Jallon in Guinea, makes its 4,000 kilometre journey through five countries before entering Nigeria on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. It carries a large volume of sediments which are deposited in Nigeria, thus forcing it to burst its banks after major downpours.

Equally, River Benue, which rises from the Cameroon Mountains, clog its pathways in Nigeria with traction loads. The situation is worsened by the fact that major dams are situated on the courses of these mighty rivers, and water has to be routinely released to prevent them from collapsing and causing untold disasters.

The question arises: Exactly what is the job of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources? This Ministry, which has existed since time immemorial, is expected to have evolved a masterplan for managing our rivers and lakes and harnessing their resources to enrich the economy and benefit those who dwell along their paths.

But because of failure of governance, our rivers, especially the Niger and Benue, have become sources of terror to our people. Every year, flooding from these rivers kill, destroy property and render people homeless in Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Anambra, Rivers, Bayelsa, Benue and Adamawa states.

The duty of government, especially the Federal Government through its Ministry of Water Resources and the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, is to routinely de-silt and dredge these rivers so that when the rains come, water will have an easy passage to the sea with minimum threat to lives and property.

It is so shameful that the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, is only now thinking towards what he calls “river training”, to curb the massive flooding of our rivers. According to him: “We want to do a study on Rivers Niger and Benue, we want to do a masterplan that will address some of these issues”. He said this after this year’s flood surged over Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, and other surrounding areas.

The flooding we suffer are mere indicators of our backwardness as a country. We need new leaders who can harness our water resources to our advantage. 

We need specialists, not politicians, as Water Resources Ministers.