CONSTRUCTION: Borno Dam Collapse was Inevitable: The Fault is in Us; Not the Stars!

 

“The RDI boss pointed out that someone or some people must be held to account for the failure in acting to prevent the collapse of the dam and the monumental losses that the state has recorded and would incur in the days ahead”

PEGASUS REPORTERS, LAGOS | SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

Maiduguri inhabitants have been displaced; thousands are in agony even as the prisons have been broken forcing some inmates to flee. With over 70% of the city under water, it’s not been easy counting the casualty or the extent of the damage done by the flooding. What is certain is that the State government efforts to relocate displaced residents were ongoing, according to the NEMA spokesperson, who added that three Internally Displaced People Camps had been opened to accommodate those affected. Sadly too, the animals are not left out as over 80% of animals at the Sanda Kyarimi Park zoo are reported dead.

The National Emergency Management Agency, said that the flood also ravaged other major city locations, including the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Umar Ibn Garbai El-Kanemi, the State Secretariat, Post Office, Cemetery, Lagos Area, Bulabulin, Gwange, Monday Market, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and Kofar Shehu.

“Some locations that I personally know and consider to be high ground, from the report we received, are already underwater, including Lagos Street, the market area, the palace of the Shehu of Borno, at least the front of the palace, we can see water there,” NEMA spokesman, Manzo Ezekiel, told The PUNCH.

The NEMA spokesperson said Borno’s flat ground geology made it easier for water to flow into passage areas in Maiduguri city, adding that the flood began after the Alau Dam overflowed following heavy rains.

“The overflow of the main source of the dam in Borno State, called Alau Dam, has brought the city to be underwater since last weekend. So, our attention now and our energy are geared towards providing necessary support, by way of search and rescue, and supporting people that have been impacted. That is what we are doing now.”

“Our search and rescue team are already working with the state officials of the state emergency management agency, providing support to people affected by the flood. By the way, what is happening in Maiduguri is something that was not envisaged, and that it will be to this extent. The flooding has exceeded the forecast made because of what is happening in Maiduguri today (Tuesday).”

Manzo said city residents moved to a higher ground when the initial flood happened in Gwangi. However, the higher ground has been overtaken by water, leading the state government to open the Bakassi Camp, a bigger area, for people to move into.

“Our team is on ground there, and we are working with the state emergency management agency to provide the necessary support, and to save lives from the flooding,” Manzo added.

The Borno State Emergency Management Agency described the flooding as terrible. The Director-General of the agency, Barkindo Muhammad, said, “We went for a rescue and proceeded to distribute sandbags in Gozari. As I am talking to you now (on the telephone) I am trapped; we came to rescue some people, and we are now trapped.”

“President Tinubu extends his heartfelt condolences to the government and people of the State, especially to the families that have lost their means of livelihood due to the disaster triggered by the overflow of the Alau Dam. President Tinubu assures Governor Babagana Zulum that the Federal Government is ready to collaborate to address the immediate humanitarian needs of the affected people”

He has since directed all the relevant ministries and agencies to collaborate with the Borno State Government in mobilising the necessary resources to provide urgent relief and assistance to those affected by the unfortunate incident”

Vice President Kashim Shettima arrived in Maiduguri Tuesday to conduct an on-the-ground assessment of the devastating floods. The VP directed government agencies to provide immediate relief to the affected communities. During his visit, the Vice President will assess the extent of the damage, interact with the displaced residents, and oversee the ongoing relief efforts. He will also hold meetings with state and local government officials to coordinate a comprehensive response plan,” the statement added.

As Nigerians tell tales as to why the dam collapsed, the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) has linked the collapse of the Alau Dam in Borno State and inundation of farmlands and hundreds of homes in Maiduguri, the state capital, to a total disconnect among the coordinating emergency response agencies of government at federal and state levels.

The RDI position, contained in a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, comes on the heels of the collapse of the dam on Tuesday, September 10, and inundation of 70 percent of 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 a statement 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 pre-emptive 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 lack lustre approach of the federal and the state governments that have collected about N40 billion in Ecological Funds this year alone to addressing 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.”

The RDI boss pointed out that someone or some people must be held to account for the failure in acting 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.”

Yet what are those indications that are complicit in the collapse of the dam? We dug into the archives, and this was our findings. There was this legendary Mansa, a construction firm owned by one of Nigeria’s foremost Civil Engineers.

This was a man who turned down the construction of the dam in the 70s because he noticed certain vivid miscalculations in the design and predicted it would get washed in less than 30 years. How right he was. The contract was awarded to another company that built it to that particular specification MANSA Construction turned down.

Today, the dam did collapse flooding the whole of Maiduguri city with canoes as the mode of transportation while the water had free access to electric grids and almost everywhere thereby crippling life in Maiduguri for weeks.

Do we still have people with such moral quality these days? An engineer of engineers whose name we learnt still hangs in the Heathrow Airport in London as a Consultant during its construction.

Our country is fast losing such great personalities.

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Editor’s Titbits: Execution of Government Projects & Why they Fail

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