Flooding: NILDS DG calls for dredging of major rivers, dams

The Director-General of National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies ( NILDS), Abubakar Sulaiman, has canvassed the dredging of major rivers and dams in the country to avert adverse effects of flooding.

Mr Sulaiman, a professor, made the call on Tuesday at the opening of a three-day validation retreat on the draft Model Climate Change Law for Africa in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the law that will govern climate change action in Africa was drafted by the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES)

Mr Sulaiman, represented at the occasion by Peter Siyan, a professor of economics, said while Nigeria continued to make progress in enhancing its climate change governance actions, closing infrastructure gaps, including dredging of major rivers and dams in the country, remained vital.

He said dredging would avert the ravaging impacts of floods and erosion that usually accompany the country’s rainfall cycle.

Perennial flooding remains a major problem hindering farming in the country, thereby leading to food insecurity, aside from the occasional loss of lives, property and livestock.

“Whereas many stakeholders have recognised the need for dredging of major rivers and dams, the commitment of public funds in this direction has been poor.

“For instance, of the total of N14.85 trillion proposed for capital expenditure in the 2025 budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria, only 0.03 per cent is committed to projects aimed at dredging major rivers and dams.

“Dredging these waterways remains vital to mitigate the devastating impacts of floods in 2025 and beyond; hence, it should be given the necessary priority in the 2025 budget,” he said.

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In his remarks, the AGNES Team Lead, George Wamukoya, said the effects of climate change were evident in African society.

According to him, Africa must put mechanisms in place to address the menace, stating that one such mechanism is a legal framework.

Mr Wamukoya, who said that experts across sectors put together the draft, added that adequate attention was given to administrative structure as well as the roles of citizens.

He said the aim of the draft framework was to enable African countries to have legal frameworks on climate change to enhance the continent’s negotiation at the global stage.

The team lead said that the draft was for African countries, and they were free to domesticate the law as it suited individual countries.

Speaking at the occasion, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Director in Nigeria, Rose Mwebaza, said as long as the G-20 countries continued the current emissions, Africa would continue to suffer the effects of climate change.

Ms Mwebaza, however, said that Africa could not afford to fold its hands without doing anything, stressing that the continent would remain weak at the negotiation table without domestic legal frameworks.

According to her, one of the reasons Africa did not have access to enough climate change finance is the lack of domestic framework, as only about four of the 54 countries in the continent have climate change laws.

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She commended the initiative, saying it would be part of the topics for discussion at the Heads of State conference in February.

Walters Tubua, the regional lead for West and Central Africa, United Nations Climate Change, said the adverse effects were visible on the continent.

Mr Tubua said that Africans must roll up their sleeves and fight climate change, as the last 10 years had been the hottest.

He said the legal draft was coming very late, but it was better late than never.

Mr Tubua urged African countries to adopt and domesticate the law as an instrument to combat climate change in the continent.

(NAN)