Mr Idowu Salawau, an environmental consultant to the Ministry of Environment has called for the construction of ‘buffer dams’ along the plains and tributaries of River Niger to address the over-flow of the river that has led to devastating flood in settlements along the river.
Mr Salawau claimed that the dam will absorb the excess water that will be released from the major dams. “The federal government should look at the pathway of River Niger and look for where buffer dams can be constructed to absorb the water that will be released from the dam.”
The environmentalist noted that the ravaging flood in central Nigeria is caused by both man-made and natural disasters that can never be averted but well managed.”
According to Mr Salawau, the water released from the dams must be released because if the dams are allowed to burst, the devastation will much more overwhelming that what we have now, “so buffer dams should be constructed along the flood plains to absorb the excess water.”
He enjoined the federal government to permanently relocate the displaced people who were residing along the flood plains and come-up with “a serious 10-years flood management programme” for the flood plain areas.
He also decried the poor funding of the Environment Ministry, saying “the Ministry of Environment is poorly funded due to its inadequate budget.” The environmentalist revealed that the cost of the cheapest buffer-dam will cost between N6-N8 billion.
