Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, says the proposed Inter-Basin Water Transfer from Congo River into the Lake Chad is possible but expensive, and will require more consultations.

Adamu said this at a Media Forum themed: “Engage, Educate and Empower Nigerians on the Legacy Project of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources” in Abuja.

No fewer than 40 million people depend on the natural resources of Lake Chad.

He hinted that Nigeria was currently working to improve the hydraulicity of River Chari and Logone through dredging and improvement of the river banks.

He noted that this was crucial as environmental challenges like silting, new flood plains due to climate change, were affecting the lake.

“The inter-basin water transfer is supposed to traverse many countries, we are taking water from the Congo Basin and transferring it to another 400 km into Chad, it is technically feasible.

“But it is very expensive. It requires a lot of study and we are going to be using the existing rivers, so it requires a lot of planning. But what we are doing is to start with the low hanging fruit.

“So what we want to do is to improve the hydraulacity of river chari and river Logone, the two rivers are the ones that bring water into Lake Chad.

“In addition to the climate change issue, even when you have good rain, the water just flows into the banks and creates new floodplains rather than flow directly into the lake.

“So it’s a lot of technical issues to deal with before you finally talk about the money, And the money of course, it’s a lot of billions of dollars.

“One of the good things is that it has been taken as a PanAfrican project, but even at African Union, they are now talking about it seriously.’’

Speaking on the ministry’s dam projects, the minister said the River Basin Development Authorities were being revitalised to deliver on their mandates.

He noted that the Songhai model, as an integrated agricultural practice was introduced to boost agricultural production and achieve integrated rural development.

He said since his tenure, 253 farmlands have been leased to the private sector for commercial farming while 42 small dams have been constructed across the nation.

In 2017, the federal government successfully conducted a feasibility study towards recharging the Lake Chad through an inter-basin water transfer from the Congo basin at an estimated cost of $15 billion.

This is a part of the projects envisioned to transform the region into a more stable economic hub as the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram in the North-east draw to a close.

Floods have destroyed many property and rendered scores of residents homeless in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, Nigeria’s north-central.

Flood has over the last decade become a yearly routine, destroying property worth millions of Naira and causing losses of lives in some cases.

The areas are among the worst hit in the 2017 floods that displaced more than 120,000 persons in Makurdi.

At Agber Village, Mr James Igbawua said that the situation was beyond the community’s control, adding that they reported the matter to all relevant authorities over the years but no positive repsonse.

Igbawua said that, as a community, they could not do much as the situation required hundreds of millions to be addressed.

At Judge’s Quarters Extension, the situation was the same as waters overflowed a drainage system constructed on Ashavir Street, thereby rendering the residents with no access roads.

The disaster has also rendered many around the area homeless as the floods have taken over their homes temporarily.

In 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated a 3.35-kilometre drainage channel to address ecological challenges facing Idye Community in Makurdi.

The channel has significantly reduced the effect of the floods around the axis but since the second and third phases of the project were yet to be constructed, there was no free flow of water, thereby causing more damage to areas like Agber, Achussah and Nyiman.

Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Dr Godwin Oyiwona had earlier disclosed that Idye Basin was the major cause of flood in Makurdi metropolis.

Oyiwona said that an undisclosed amount had been approved by the government for the cleaning of the Idye Basin that controlled most of the water flow within the town to River Benue.

He further disclosed that other areas that were not connected to the Basin were being treated separately to ensure that there was no longer flood in 2022.

He said government was doing everything possible to educate those residing along areas prone to flood, to reduce its impact on them.

He said flood, which became a yearly problem of the state, had over the years destroyed property worth billions of Naira and lives, adding that huge amount of money was needed to address it permanently.

Lagos State Government has expressed commitment to building the foundation of a circular economy in the state as well as advocating for environmental sustainability.

Mr Tunji Bello, Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, stated this in Lagos while delivering a keynote address at the official unveiling of the “Eko Clean Air” project at Itedo community.

Represented by Dr Tajudeen Gaji, Permanent Secretary, Environmental Services, Bello said that he was excited to bring the advocacy on circularity and environmental sustainability to Itedo community in Lekki.

He said that the advocacy was a very clear and important sentiment expressed across multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) goals, under the states localised initiative, with the theme “Eko for Clean Air”.

While citing the UN Environment Programme, Bello said that environmental sustainability through a circular economy involved making life choices that ensured an equal, if not better way of life for future generations.

While citing the World Bank and World Health Organisation, Bello noted that air pollution was considered a major environmental and health threat with an increasing economic burden.

According to him, the worst impacts of air pollution are felt in our informal and small-scale industries as well as our most vulnerable populations.

The commissioner said that the state, in its bid to combat environmental pollution and encourage sustainable development, has charged LASEPA with the responsibility of setting and enforcing environmental standards.

He added that LASEPA was also vested with the responsibility of adopting a proactive approach to environmental protection, promoting a circular economy, and ensuring that all state’s environmental resources are consumed in a sustainable manner.

He said that ensuring a seamless interface with communities and adopting a truly granular approach by adapting global best standards on circularity and sustainability to the unique Lagos ecosystem is a key expected outcome.