Maiduguri, Borno state – President Bola Tinubu has approved N80 billion for the expansion and reconstruction of the Alau dam in Maiduguri, Borno state.
Professor Joseph Terlumun Utsev, the minister of water resources and sanitation, gave this update on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting.
According to Utsev, committee work is ongoing and subsequently, reports of the remaining 34 other dams across Nigeria going through assessments will be submitted to the FEC.
Utsev said:
“President Tinubu gave approval for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Alau Dam in Borno State, valued at N80 billion. This approval is awaiting ratification by FEC, while due process is being observed.
“The Borno state government is working together to kickstart the project, and by July 2025, the first component will be established to ensure flooding does not occur in Borno state in 2025. The entire project will be completed in the next 24 months.”
Legit.ng recalls that in September 2024, the Alau dam collapsed, causing catastrophic flooding in Borno state.
Heavy rains caused floods that inundated up to 15% of Maiduguri and killed more than 80% of the animals in the Sanda Kyarimi Park Zoo. At least 150 people were killed in the area, and several hundred thousand people were displaced from their homes. According to Chi Lael, a spokeswoman for the United Nations (UN) world food programme, crops that would have fed 1.6 million people for six months were lost in the flood.
A New York Times report in October 2024 deemed the Borno state flooding ‘worse than the yearslong Boko Haram insurgency’. It said state actors blamed God, climate change, and poor people, however, experts had raised the alarm that the Alau dam was at risk well before it collapsed and the officials allegedly did nothing.
Humanitarian agencies and government officials have warned that the next disaster facing Maiduguri will be severe water and food shortages.
Meanwhile, alongside Prof. Utsev, on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, Dave Umahi, the minister of works, briefed the press on the approval of the Ado-Ekiti Igede road and other road project contracts endorsed by the ministry of works.
Cameroon to release water from Lagdo dam
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the federal government of Nigeria issued an alert to residents in 11 states regarding the imminent release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.
