The Inter-ministerial Technical Committee on Evaluation of Dams in Nigeria held its inaugural meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting held at the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Abuja, pledged to evaluate the physical condition of dams, assess the social and environmental implications of dams on local communities, and draw up a programme to address the challenges of dams in the country.

On September 23, the Federal Government established a technical committee to reassess the integrity of the Borno State dam and others nationwide, following the breach of the Alau dam.

The Federal Government also approved the establishment of a Disaster Relief Fund to “build greater resilience” in preventing and responding to natural disasters nationwide, especially floods.

The committee led by the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, also noted that part of its primary objectives is to draw up a programme to address the challenges of dams in the country.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Utsev said, “To help achieve the objectives of establishing the fund, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, approved the constitution of an Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee on Evaluation of Dams in Nigeria.

“The Technical Committee has the overall primary objectives of evaluating the physical condition of dams, assessing the social and environmental implications of dams on local communities, and drawing up a programme to address the challenges of dams in the country. The committee’s specific terms of reference are equally provided to guide our discussions today.”

Utsev explained that the ministry in due course will co-opt technical experts that would help the committee discharge its assignment effectively.

“As part of modalities to carry out the assignment, the ministry has equally considered the creation of a Project Delivery Unit to provide technical support to the committee throughout the period of its assignment. I am optimistic that this meeting will give us a clearer guide on delivering this assignment,” he further explained.

Speaking further, Utsev said the committee will evaluate the status of the dams to alleviate the challenges of flooding, water supply, irrigation and flood control.

“We are going to look at all the dams and come up with reports on the menace of challenges of disasters in the country, particularly what has happened in Maiduguri. We are not going to leave any stone unturned. We are going to look at all the northern crannies of this country, both the old dams and the new dams that need to be constructed, are going to be done by Mr. President’s directive.

“With the technical committee, the technical experts, we are going to do the needful. And we are giving assurance to Nigerians that this is going to end well.”

Other members of the committee are the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; the Minister of Works, David Umahi; the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa; the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; and others.

Speaking with journalists at the end of the meeting, Idris, said the committee was set up to provide a solution to avert flooding disasters.

“All of us came together to look at this issue holistically and see how this unfortunate and tragic situation can be averted. Mr. President’s desire is to make life very easy for Nigerians.

“Therefore, everything that we do here will now be transmitted to Nigeria holistically, and the technical committee under this main committee will go to the field to do a reevaluation of the situation, and produce a comprehensive report to the government so that the government will address this issue completely,” he said.

The minister noted that the report will be released very soon.

“The rainy season has advanced, and we know that for anything to be meaningful, we have to take a very proactive and quick decision so that the next rainy season will not catch us napping,” he stated.

On the budgetary allocation for the evaluation of dams, Edun emphasised that the committee will assess the dams before the allocation of the budget.

“The evaluation will have to be done first. We’ll do a risk assessment and an evaluation will have to be done before the budget. Budget is usually a result of an informed decision of needs and that is what we are doing at this point. Let me add that in terms of funding, we have to remember that this is a response to a particular event, but at the same time, the preparedness for such events has been ongoing.

”Funding was provided for flood abatement, preparation for flood events and preparation to mitigate the effects of flooding. Funding was provided earlier this year, just before the commencement of the heaviest of rainy seasons for every state in the federation. Funds were given to billions to prepare themselves. It just so happens that in the instance of these dams, there is a special case and that’ why a special committee is being set up to look at the technicalities of evaluating them.

“They were built many years ago, the question of evaluating them and seeing what can be done to strengthen them and to take all measures necessary to ensure that, as far as possible, we do not have breaches like the one that led to the disaster.

“In addition to that, Mr President has also set up a committee that will look at setting up a disaster relief fund that will cope with specific instances that come up. It’s a private-public sector committee and it has already started its own work. It’s a multifaceted approach to protecting Nigerians, to making them safe, to making them secure, particularly in these days of climate change where you get a lot of climate action that needs emergency intervention.

On his part, the budget and economic planning minister highlighted that the government had initially approved a renewed hope infrastructure fund to rehabilitate dams and irrigation facilities to expand both our dams, infrastructure and irrigation facilities.

Bagudu said, “Money has been provided under the renewed hope infrastructure fund for equity, which is a government component of money we anticipate will grow by private investors and other investors to support both dam and irrigation infrastructure.”