In his submission on ‘Why Lake Chad Requires Urgent Attention’, BASSEY EFFIONG BASSEY, an engineer, is advocating for research centre to study the dilemma facing Lake Chad as well as an integrated studies of rivers flowing into the Benue River.

The above caption was at page 60 of The Guardian of Monday, February 26, 2018. The intention was to inform the general public of the plight of fellow Nigerians and other citizens of the riparian state of Lake Chad.

I have been in the profession of Water Resources Engineering for six decades and at a time served as a member of the Nigeria’s delegation to the Chad Basin Commission when I was a staff of the Inland Waterways Department of the Federal Ministry of Transport. I was a young man at the time but now I am 88 and certainly my memory is fading, but not so much the principles.

It is clear to me that the authors were not quite at home with the topic they were engaged on. The units of measurement were misapplied. Amongst those of us who had been active in the field of  Water Resources Engineering, some might suspect that the wish of the writers is to prepare the minds of the public, government and National Assembly to be favourably disposed when the project estimates are prepared.

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, was quoted to have said, “What we have on the table now is the inter-basin transfer from the Congo Basin into the river…..we are talking of drawing from different basins with a distance of over 2,500 kilometres. It is huge infrastructure project..”

In my humble opinion, it would be humiliating if Nigeria should, after nearly 60 years of independence, approach the world community with a proposal for a dicey project of this nature because the international community may take advantage of our professed helplessness to present a disguised lion in a sheepskin. How many times would the bee sting us before we know how to approach a beehive?

Some years back, Nigeria was enticed to construct the Kainji Dam with  locks based on foreign advice that will provide Niger Republic with cheaper access to the sea, but while the construction work was in progress, Mali changed the regime of the river at Timbuktu for her development, thus affecting the expected flow through Niger Republic to Nigeria. Consequently, the projected major return of the investment became a pipe dream and a loss to Nigeria.

The difference in reservoir capacity is substantial. The reliance on foreign advisers had always been disadvantageous to Nigeria.A foreign consultant sold the idea of dredging of River Niger to encourage the development of inland ports at Baro and Onitsha. But working under S.J. Bocks, an engineer, a man with photographic memory, all he did was to flip over the reports of foreign consultants in their presence before taking them to task, most of them leaving in humiliation.

Under him, I undertook a study of the use of self-cleansing dredging methods after coming to the conclusion that mechanical dredging would be uneconomical especially as the National Assembly and the Federal Government had succumbed to road lobby mounted by Hausa/Fulani and Ibo transporters to cause the collapse of river transportation and railways Nigerians had to live with the situation until the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan when the dredging of River Niger was set in motion. At the end of the project, the then Managing Director of Federal Inland Waterways Authority gleefully announced that he had successfully completed what was thought to be an impossible task. On that occasion, the undersigned responded to let him know he was wrong. Indeed, the current administration has come to pooh-pooh that the entire exercise was a waste of money. And so will every attempt at mechanical dredging of the Niger continue to be.

On the Lake Chad dilemma, a research centre should be established at the University of Maiduguri with the Chad Basin catchment area, funded by the Federal Government, under the Nigerian know-how. There is abundance of Nigerian experts with world recognition who could make Nigeria proud. The Research Centre will take salinity measurements, sand distribution in the vertical, and bed survey at regular intervals, analysis of crude oil exploration records to determine whether the loss in water level and changes in salinity are the result of evaporation or subsurface drainage or otherwise?

The engagement of satellite imagery to obtain valuable information on a continuous basis should be useful. All information gathered would be collated and analysed at the research centre to come out with the most appropriate and informed decision on this dilemma.
Any attempt to insist on this proposal is a sure step to further economically destabilise Nigeria and push it into the list of failed states.

The resourcefulness of some Nigerians in the corridors of power is enormous. They are already thinking about the possibility of improving the navigability of the Benue River, which is well known for its high sand content and siltation rate. They wish to have that dredged. If the dredging of River Niger, a less problematic river at great cost has not provided reasonable return on investment, it is unlikely that the Benue River will yield better result.To be doubly sure, integrated studies of rivers flowing into the Benue River should be undertaken to determine the contributions of inflowing rivers in terms of sediment transport and water regime over a period of time to determine the influence of each in the River Benue situation.

The sand in the Benue River must be coming from somewhere and it should be the aim of a coordinated study to identify the contributors and the  magnitude of their contributions before any meaningful attempt at dredging or water feeding could be attempted. In some countries, the Society of Engineers and others are actively involved in such exercises. Likewise in Nigeria, the Nigerian Society of Engineers can be commissioned for such studies. The projects are within Nigeria’s technical reach to undertake.

Source: https://guardian.ng/property/how-to-revive-lake-chad-improve-benue-river/amp/

Front Page: lalasticlala

Such an odd claim. Why would any group lobby against rail or river transport options. It wouldn't benefit them in anyway since cheaper transport cost is better for business.

Under him, I undertook a study of the use of self-cleansing dredging methods after coming to the conclusion that mechanical dredging would be uneconomical especially as the National Assembly and the Federal Government had succumbed to road lobby mounted by Hausa/Fulani and Ibo transporters to cause the collapse of river transportation and railways.

The OP is obviously a tribalist; he deliberately chose to base his headlines on a small insignificant observation in the write up, in order to to score cheap political points against the two tribes mentioned; while completely ignoring the real cause of the problem.

In fact both the Hausa and Igbo, who he blamed, should have vested interest towards the success of the dredging of the River Niger (and to some extent the Benue) because this would ameliorate their problem of lack of access to the sea as landlocked regions.

In actuality the dredging had already been attempted without success because the main stumbling block was the rapid silt and sand formation that quickly reverses any of the dredging done - the article therefore recognised overcoming this phenomenon as key to a permanent solution for the problem.

Igbo this, Igbo that. free them, u say no. let my people be biko.

Must you add igbo and hausa fulani to gain traction?..

If anyone lobbied against rail and river transportation that is bad, but with the amount of false news floating around on social media, it will take more than mere claims to convince the intelligent.

We need more concrete evidence, not hearsay.

Nigerian Engineers and Theory.
Though raising funds for experiment is another story.

adadike:
Igbo this, Igbo that. free them, u say no. let my people be biko.

ada,this is not an anti-igbo article neither is it about Nnamdi Kanu nor IPOB


Its from an 88 year old water resources engineer from the South south.



Read again and try to comprehend,biko

adadike:
Igbo this, Igbo that. free them, u say no. let my people be biko.

We told them to go they called UN, US, UK, CNN ICC....

OP should remain above the fray and not mess his hands with posts that may be interpreted as having tribalistic undertones.

Blue3k2 you have many fans including among Igbos. You have built up the image of a technocrat, not a tribal warlord. Don't spoil what you have built just to gain a few points.

Lol says the crybaby that was wailing the Igbos are the reason the kids in the north are junkies. You must have a reading disability due to the drug use. I said his claim doesn't make sense so how did I score political points against them.

Lol I changed title becsuse the headline more interesting and got u more people to view thread. I highlighted all the important details of article and saved other comments to later. I didn't ignore anything.

ItsMeAboki:
The OP is obviously a tribalist; he deliberately chose to base his headlines on a small insignificant observation in the write up, in order to to score cheap political points against the two tribes mentioned; while completely ignoring the real cause of the problem.

letusbepieces:
OP, u spelt two tribes with 6 and 5 letter words respectively.


But you could not spell IGBO with 4 letter words.

It's a direct quote from article. Don't cry now it's ok.

igbodefender:
OP should remain above the fray and not mess his hands with posts that may be interpreted as having tribalistic undertones.

Blue3k2 you have many fans including among Igbos. You have built up the image of a technocrat, not a tribal warlord. Don't spoil what you have built just to gain a few points.

Lol internet fans don't interest me. I post what ever i like for entertainment purposes. It's just Nairaland and I change titles all the time and so do miss if moves to front page.

Blue3k2:


Lol says the crybaby that was wailing the Igbos are the reason the kids in the north are junkies. You must have a reading disability due to the drug use. I said his claim doesn't make sense so how did I score political points against them.

Lol I changed title becsuse the headline more interesting and got u more people to view thread. I highlighted all the important details of article and saved other comments to later. I didn't ignore anything.

It's a direct quote from article. Don't cry now it's ok.

Lol internet fans don't interest me. I post what ever i like for entertainment purposes. It's just Nairaland and I change titles all the time and so do miss if moves to front page.

My assertions on the other thread were factually based; while here the blame had been shifted to where it did not truly belong by a deliberate misleading headline - big difference.

Your reading disability kicking in again who did i blame? You blamed a whole tribe for action if because you can't raise kids correctly and they don't have self discipline not to spend money on drugs. I disagreed with author. The title is click bait but it works.

ItsMeAboki:


My assertions on the other thread were factually based; while here the blame had been shifted to where it did not truly belong by a deliberate misleading headline - big difference.

Blue3k2:
Your reading disability kicking in again who did i blame? You blamed a whole tribe for action if because you can't raise kids correctly and they don't have self discipline not to spend money on drugs. I disagreed with author. The title is click bait but it works.

There you go again, resorting to name calling; yet ignorant as ever.

Did you not just admitted to changing the title; did the title not deliberately blame a set of tribes for the failure of the water (and rail) transportation; was that assertion factually correct that indeed the Hausa/Fulani & Igbo transporters were responsible for the mentioned systems collapse?

Listen my friend, I read to understand not just to copy and paste without intelligence - read the article again (not just what you highlighted) and you will find that real reason why river Niger is still not navigable is because it cannot be economically dredged - due to rapid reformation of sand & silt on the river bed after evacuation.

Stop highlighting your annoying lack of comprehension - correcting you is really getting quite tiresome.

Lol more trash because you lack reading comprehension skills. Please stop rambling and go learn from local elementary student near you. My comment didn't blame Hausa or Igbo. You are pretty slow if you if you don't get this point. Your boogie man drug dealers must of tried your brain cells if this concept is hard to grasp.

The title click bait and yes the author did blame them. The title is not main point of article. Btw you changed your argument from me blaming other tribes to title blaming others. The author states it do it's fair sat so.

Read to understand like you pretend to do. Next time you won't be assuming I blaming tribe for something when I clearly disagreed with author on that particular point.

ItsMeAboki:


There you go again, resorting to name calling; yet ignorant as ever.

Did you not just admitted to changing the title; did the title not deliberately blame a set of tribes for the failure of the water (and rail) transportation; was that assertion factually correct that indeed the Hausa/Fulani & Igbo transporters were responsible for the mentioned systems collapse?

Lol you're a slow guy. My comment directly above yours and you still had to prove you have an actual reading disability.

Blue3k2:
Such an odd claim. Why would any group lobby against rail or river transport options. It wouldn't benefit them in anyway since cheaper transport cost is better for business.

ItsMeAboki:
The OP is obviously a tribalist; he deliberately chose to base his headlines on a small insignificant observation in the write up, in order to to score cheap political points against the two tribes mentioned

letusbepieces:
OP, u spelt two tribes with 6 and 5 letter words respectively.


But you could not spell IGBO with 4 letter words.

You dont like that he reduced the number of words and gave Ibo least, right? No problem. Here....Hausa/Fulani and Yonminrin.

Now count.

Blue3k2:
Lol more trash because you lack reading comprehension skills. Please stop rambling and go learn from local elementary student near you. My comment didn't blame Hausa or Igbo. You are pretty slow if you if you don't get this point. Your boogie man drug dealers must of tried your brain cells if this concept is hard to grasp.

The title click bait and yes the author did blame them. The title is not main point of article. Btw you changed your argument from me blaming other tribes to title blaming others. The author states it do it's fair sat so.

Read to understand like you pretend to do. Next time you won't be assuming I blaming tribe for something when I clearly disagreed with author on that particular point.

Lol you're a slow guy. My comment directly above yours and you still had to prove you have an actual reading disability.

I have already summed up the fallacy of your thread in my initial post and also made further clarifications in subsequent ones: in which I said you basically took a small insignificant statement out of context from a very lengthy article, addressing an entirely different topic; blew it out of proportion by choosing to make it your headline - a completely misleading headline apparently aimed at causing mischief.

Yes, the author used those words; but if you had the power of comprehension you would have noticed it was a casual remark, made in passing without qualification or emphasis (if it was otherwise important, he would have dwelt on it) a mere unverified perception at the time; if you also had the power of comprehension you would have further noticed that the author unwittingly went on to subsequently contradict that statement by identifying the real reason causing the failure to make the River Niger navigable, in addition to criticising another proposal of repeating the same mistake on River Benue.

It wouldn't have really mattered had the statement been factually correct; but we all know that it wasn't, because it could only had held true had the only impediment stopping the development been the alleged success of a tribal lobby group - against the real truth that the river had already been dredged but the project collapsed due to the mentioned problem of re-silting and sand reformation.

Pls tell me, if a person amplifies a lie and keeps repeating it, what does that make him to be?

Please stop celebrating your apparent infantile brain under development and intellectual laziness.

Mr illiterate stop defending the fact you too lazy to notice the state directly above yours. I disagreed with one on statement judt likr you did but you jumped to conclusions becsuse your too lazy to notice I highlighted and noted the important details in article. Lol u must have seriously fried your brain cells if you reading disability is this bad.

I didn't comment on rest because I didn't disagree with his other statements. I didn't take the statement out of context he meant the Igbo traders and Hausa/Fulani blocked progress for no unexplained reason. It good article except for the odd claim. It doesn't matter if he made it unwittingly it still should be called out.

No it wasn't saud in passing he meant as historical fact both groups lobbied for better roads thus blocking other firms of transport. Again go take reading lessons from local grade schooler. I'm sure they can teach you better.

mechanical dredging would be uneconomical especially as the National Assembly and the Federal Government had succumbed to road lobby mounted by Hausa/Fulani and Ibo transporters to cause the collapse of river transportation and railways Nigerians had to live with the situation until the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan when the dredging of River Niger was set in motion.

He mentions mechanical dredging being uneconomical a few times. Then talks about silt built on Benue river. The article article mentions both issues but your fixated on river Benue. Why didn't you comment on lake chad? I guess if I use you dumb logic you must of not read that part since you didn't talk about it.

ItsMeAboki:


I have already summed up the fallacy of your thread in my initial post and also made further clarifications in subsequent ones: in which I said you basically took a small insignificant statement out of context from a very lengthy article, addressing an entirely different topic; blew it out of proportion by choosing to make it your headline - a completely misleading headline apparently aimed at causing mischief.

Yes, the author used those words; but if you had the power of comprehension you would have noticed it was a casual remark, made in passing without qualification or emphasis (if it was otherwise important, he would have dwelt on it) a mere unverified perception at the time; if you also had the power of comprehension you would have further noticed that the author unwittingly went on to subsequently contradict that statement by identifying the real reason causing the failure to make the River Niger navigable, in addition to criticising another proposal of repeating the same mistake on River Benue.

papoudaupolos:

We told them to go they called UN, US, UK, CNN ICC....

You told them to go by organizing some 89 year old 'youths' under Arewa banner to issue baseless ultimatums?

Is that how to dissolve an unworkable union. Tell your lanky abokki dolt in Aso rock to dissolve that shiithole. Then we'll know you are serious. Damned parasites feeling funky.

Sctests:


You told them to go by organizing some 89 year old 'youths' under Arewa banner to issue baseless ultimatums?

Is that how to dissolve an unworkable union. Tell your lanky abokki dolt in Aso rock to dissolve that shiithole. Then we'll know you are serious. Damned parasites feeling funky.

Jus pack comot no grammar.

papoudaupolos:

Jus pack comot no grammar.

Don't you know the road to fouta djallon abi are you a conquered and enslaved hausa?

Sctests:


Don't you know the road to fouta djallon abi are you a conquered and enslaved hausa?

By now you realised The whole Biafra nonsense na joke by fraudsters.

papoudaupolos:

By now you realised The whole Biafra nonsense na joke by fraudsters.

The only joke is your existence as 'merely existing" polio-infected almajiri who believes 'a joke' should be fought with guns and bombs in the SE by your cowardly soldiers who run when they sight shecow's boys.


You are so demented you fought 'a joke' by wasting taxpayers money on guns and bullets expended in python shame. abooki no get sense at all.

Sctests:


The only joke is your existence as 'merely existing" polio-infected almajiri who believes 'a joke' should be fought with guns and bombs in the SE by your cowardly soldiers who run when they sight shecow's boys.


You are so demented you fought 'a joke' by wasting taxpayers money on guns and bullets expended in python shame. abooki no get sense at all.

We don't care about insignificant things like u.
We ll wait until someone u hold very important among yourselves rise up,then we drop tons of sh*t on him.
Like Ojukwu
Like Kanu
And whoever is coming nxt.
I'm certified almajiri , but I'm no pig

Blue3k2:
Mr illiterate stop defending the fact you too lazy to notice the state directly above yours. I disagreed with one on statement judt likr you did but you jumped to conclusions becsuse your too lazy to notice I highlighted and noted the important details in article. Lol u must have seriously fried your brain cells if you reading disability is this bad.

I didn't comment on rest because I didn't disagree with his other statements. I didn't take the statement out of context he meant the Igbo traders and Hausa/Fulani blocked progress for no unexplained reason. It good article except for the odd claim. It doesn't matter if he made it unwittingly it still should be called out.

No it wasn't saud in passing he meant as historical fact both groups lobbied for better roads thus blocking other firms of transport. Again go take reading lessons from local grade schooler. I'm sure they can teach you better.



He mentions mechanical dredging being uneconomical a few times. Then talks about silt built on Benue river. The article article mentions both issues but your fixated on river Benue. Why didn't you comment on lake chad? I guess if I use you dumb logic you must of not read that part since you didn't talk about it.

You called me an illiterate; yet fail to notice all numerous silly mistakes.
No doubt ppl like you require specialised attention; your new teacher Ebora is waiting for you; I am sure you will greatly benefit from her kind of lessons.

Lol the codeine must still be effecting you. Please make sure you reward your tutor well for putting up with slow learner like yourself. You jumped to conclusions when my comment above yours proved you wrong. 2nd ever detail u mentioned i highlighted as importsbt point. Only you would be to inept to notice.

[img]https://media1./images/a17c1e34e082c793432746c4a82706eb/tenor.gif?itemid=4826167[/img]

Btw great job deveoloping those drug addict codeine zombies.

ItsMeAboki:


You called me an illiterate; yet fail to notice all numerous silly mistakes.
No doubt ppl like you require specialised attention; your new teacher Ebora is waiting for you; I am sure you will greatly benefit from her kind of lessons.