Isaac Saloka, a former Director Rivers State Ministry of Environment, in this interview with Emmanuel Obe blames the ravaging floods in Nigeria on human activities and says solution lies in inter-state collaboration, dredging of rivers and relocation from waterbeds to higher grounds.
Nigeria is yet again in the throes of massive flooding that has devastated many communities across states in Nigeria. As someone who has been at the heart of environmental protection, what is happening?
The thing is that over the years, climate change has continued. But in Nigeria, a bigger part of the thing is anthropogenic, caused by human beings.
How?
If you trace the Niger from our boundary with Benin Republic, from there people have been tampering with the water course. It was very gradual. People have been tampering with it. It is the same thing with the Benue River. So, over the years you will see that the water course has been narrowed a little bit. Apart from that there has been sand gathering. There has been silting. Silting has been taking place; sand has been gathering.
Another one is development. It has something to do with even the development of dams. These things are done indiscriminately without the coastal countries talking. There has not been anything like dialogue, talking, discussing before these things are built. So, people just build these dams anyhow.
But there have always been inter-state commissions of these countries?
Look at the one we have just talked about; Lagdo Dam, the one in Cameroun. Why is it that occasionally, the volume of water becomes too much. It is not supposed to be so because from inception it is supposed to be known; the volume of water contained in the dam. Now, in most of these places, channeling of water from the dam or from the water course into some other areas like subsidiary dams, that is when you channel water from the main course into another area, as a water body for the purposes of irrigation and something like that.
Most of these things are not planned. So, water is not tapped from the water source at the time it should be tapped and the way it should be tapped such that at all times you control the amount of water in the dam. What they do is that they just wait until when it is too much they open it up and the downstream communities will be affected. The downstream communities are the people in the lower Niger like the Delta communities.
What are other factors?
In the Niger Delta, the issue of interfering with the water courses and original waterbeds and wetlands or watershed is more serious; that is the way people tamper with these courses, these original waterways. I am not talking of ordinary flashfloods caused by sudden rainfalls. It’s not what I am talking about.
If you go to the Niger Delta, you will see how some of these areas have been tampered with, and it causes flooding. Why is it that in the ’60s, in the ’50s, ’40s and the rest of them, why was it not intensive like this? It’s because people selected highlands in the Niger Delta. People occupied specific areas. But what is happening now is that any open place, people would develop. And this has made it such that, areas where water should pass, it is no longer like that, therefore the flood.
From time immemorial there had always been flood. Why is it that it was not as serious as it is now? It is because people neglect certain rules such that even wetlands are occupied. Look at the creeks and wetlands that soaked storm water, they used to be flooded during the rains. But what has happened now? All these places have been built up. In the Niger Delta proper, people have so much tampered with certain areas that originally were wetlands. If you talk of the urban areas; that has to do with town planning, poor planning and tampering with plans. You always see that people build in places where they shouldn’t develop. And when this development is carried out, the original water course will be tampered with.
What is the place of climate change in all of this?
Now, what we are seeing in Northern Nigeria has more to do with climate change. Sometimes, you have too much rain, sometimes we have less rain. But at the time you have these too much rain, it will just rain uncontrollably.
Some people feel that the so-called climate change is caused by us human beings. Some people feel that it is natural, that from time to time, the earth goes through a kind of evolution, certain things have been changing over the years over millions of years. For instance, you know people feel that there was a time when what we call the continents were a single block of islands. If you look at the shape of America, both North and South America, it looks like it fits into the stomach of Africa, this side of Africa we call the Gulf of Guinea, which was formerly the Bight of Biafra. So, it was like all continents were a single block. But with time because of the movement of the earth’s crust, and so many things, volcano eruptions and things like that you find these things breaking.
It is natural that the forms we see now in the different continents weren’t like this millions of years ago. The earth was not like this. So, the issue of climate change shape had always been there. Even the weather, climate change changing and all that had always been there. So, some people feel that it is not necessarily because of fossil fuels or global warming that is creating climate change. Some people feel so. But there are people who seriously feel that human beings are contributing to what is going on. And you see it everywhere, even in Eleme.
You talked about development being part of the problem?
Development has contributed so much to it. And if development is not checked, what we are seeing in the Niger Delta is fallout of the water from the Upper Niger, the way it is coming down. The countries that are involved do not really consider development the way it should be done.
In other words, they are not talking of sustainable development. Sustainable development is that kind of development that takes care of the needs of the people on earth now but, at the same time, puts into consideration how generations should live without suffering from what we are enjoying now. Sustainable development is something we have been giving something of a lip service. When I was in service, I went to so many places like in Bayelsa State, Engenni and Ndoni areas. Now, things have changed. People are encroaching everywhere. And now we are shouting. The people in Ahoada East and West, some of the places where there are communities, communities were not there because they were wetlands, natural wetlands. But because people are always looking for land, some of these things… When you look at the level of development and the population we are having now, many years back, at the inception of Independence, Nigeria was 60 million plus. Now we have 200 million plus. Where do you expect these people to live?
So, in the Niger Delta and other places, people are moving into areas where they should not be, where people were not living before. They now establish new hamlets; from hamlets they develop into new communities; new communities springing up everywhere. But, the thing is that we do not put into consideration, the original nature of these places.
Given the scenario you have painted, we are in a situation. What can we do now, people are suffering, communities are submerged? We don’t seem to have any solution to it. What do you think the people and government can do to help themselves?
The only thing government can do now is what is it is doing, maybe give people relief materials. But next year, we will be talking about the same thing. We can’t put everything on government. What government can do on a lasting basis is to put in place workable policies. There are laws and policies here and there. If we go into environmental policies, there are so many policies. But are these policies implemented? They are not.This is not the first time that in Rivers State, in the Niger Delta area, Ahoada West, Ahoada East. This is not the first time they are experiencing this. Unfortunately, land is not something you can just get like that. The permanent solution will first of all be the dredging of Orashi River. It’s something government should look at to contain the level of water coming from the upper Niger.
Besides, there is no doubt that in Rivers State, some communities have to relocate. They must relocate because in the next few years, it may come with higher intensity. They have always suffered this. You know that a particular area used to be flooded, why do you go to put up a new building there? It’s just that land is a very sensitive issue everywhere in the world. But in the Niger Delta, time has come when people have to resettle in new areas. They have to move permanently.
In the North, it is a different scenario because the land is so hard. But it is the same story that people have to move to higher land and remain there. Unfortunately, where you are leaving because of flooding, another person will move in to occupy.
But there have always been government policies on these issues?
If you talk of government policy one sure way of dealing with this thing is one, proper and well controlled urban renewal policy. Let it be that any system is integrated. But each time they try to touch new drainages, you break pipes ad armoured cables here and there. So, in the urban area, government should revisit urban renewal. That is why they were talking of Greater Port Harcourt. That one is well planned. And the way they planned it, you can’t have all those things. In the rural areas, people should learn to leave waterbeds, original wetlands. They don’t need to be told.
Then, at the international level, since from time to time the water that is coming from the upper Niger, coming from Cameroun and the one coming from Futa Jallon Highlands and the rest of Niger Republic, then development in West Africa region should be such that it has to be inter-state. That is that each nation involved should discuss how especially when a particular nation wants to establish a dam, it should discuss with neighbouring countries because they will be affected. Each country should not just do what they like.
If in a particular place you have been experiencing this flood from time to time, then move. But, those are the type of things that were causing wars, inter-tribal wars in those days, people moving into lands that do not necessarily belong to them under controversial circumstances because they are running away from certain disasters.
Human beings are using what God has given us in very negative ways. If you go to Ahoada areas, you would see that people have invaded lands that used to be farmlands and are opening new communities. But those are originally and permanently waterbeds, wetlands. That is it. Why can’t people move permanently to new settlements on new grounds?
If you go to Orashi River, just stand on the bridge and look at it very carefully, you will see that the course of that water has been altered by human activities. Where the Central Bank in Port Harcourt is, it is not supposed to be there; the CBN and the post office.
The way people tamper with all these things, even government too, is worrisome. Structures are just built anyhow. The original town plans and development plan of Port Harcourt is jettisoned and they are doing anyhow.
