Challawa Dam: Nigeria Must Prepare Before the Next Flood
Beyond Warnings: A Call for Dam Safety, Early Warning and Flood Preparedness in Kano–Hadejia.
By Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu Northern Bureau Chief
Democracy Newsline
August 18th, 2026.
The debate over the safety of Challawa Gorge Dam must not be driven by panic or speculation. There is currently no verified evidence before us that the dam is on the verge of collapse. But that does not mean the authorities should wait for a disaster before preparing for one.
Challawa Gorge Dam is a critical part of the water infrastructure serving Kano and the wider Hadejia–Jama’are basin. The Hadejia–Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA) lists the Challawa Gorge Dam and Irrigation Project among its major project areas, while its mandate includes dam construction and maintenance, irrigation, drainage, and flood and erosion control.
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The real question should not simply be: “Will Challawa Dam burst?” The more important question is: “If extreme rainfall, unusually high inflows or a technical failure occurs, are Kano, Jigawa and downstream communities adequately prepared?”
That is the question government must answer.
Warnings Are Not Enough
Flood warnings save lives, but warnings without a practical response plan are insufficient. Telling residents near the Kano–Hadejia river system to “be careful” cannot be the final stage of disaster preparedness.
Where will families go? Which roads will they use? Where are evacuation centres? Who will assist children, elderly people and persons with disabilities? How will livestock be moved? Who will provide rescue boats, medical care, food and temporary shelter?
These questions should be answered before the water rises.
The scale of the 2024 Jigawa floods demonstrates why. State emergency authorities reported 16 deaths, 3,936 affected or displaced households and 2,744 hectares of farmland damaged across several local government areas.
These figures should not become another annual statistic. They should become a policy warning.
There is, however, reason for optimism. In July 2025, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) conducted a full-scale flood simulation exercise in Wudil, Kano, specifically modelling a scenario involving possible water releases from the Tiga, Challawa and Bagauda dams and their potential downstream impacts across Kano, Jigawa and Yobe.
This was an important step. But the bigger question is what happens after the simulation.
Were weaknesses identified? Were they corrected? Are the emergency plans regularly updated? Are communities trained to respond? Is the exercise repeated every year?
Preparedness must not be an event. It must become a permanent system.
Lessons from Japan
Japan offers an important lesson. Its dam-management approach combines hydrological and rainfall monitoring, flood forecasting, coordinated operation of multiple dams, emergency procedures, communication with downstream communities and regular disaster drills. The World Bank has highlighted Japan’s emphasis on updating Emergency Action Plans, improving monitoring equipment and maintaining coordination between dam operators and communities.
The lesson for Nigeria is simple: know before the crisis, prepare before the crisis, practise before the crisis and improve before the crisis.
Nigeria does not need to copy Japan’s entire infrastructure. It needs to adopt the principle of prevention.
What Should Happen Now?
First, Challawa Dam should undergo regular, transparent technical safety inspections by qualified dam engineers. The public should be informed when major safety assessments are completed and when significant rehabilitation is required.
Second, Kano–Hadejia communities need a reliable, real-time flood early-warning system. Water levels, rainfall, reservoir levels and downstream flows should be monitored continuously and linked to clear warning thresholds.
Third, warnings must reach ordinary people—not only government offices. SMS, voice messages, radio, community leaders, mosques and trained local volunteers can all be used.
Fourth, authorities should develop clear evacuation maps showing which communities are at risk, where residents should go and which routes are safe.
Fifth, the federal and state governments should establish a permanent Challawa Dam Safety and Flood Management Task Force, bringing together HJRBDA, NEMA, NIHSA, NiMet, dam engineers, environmental experts, security agencies, local governments and community representatives.
Most importantly, communities must be part of the solution. People living along the river know their environment. Their local knowledge should complement scientific monitoring.
The Netherlands has learned that flood management is not simply about trying to keep water away. It combines protective infrastructure with drainage, floodplain management, planning and long-term water management.
Kano and Jigawa can adopt the same principle in a practical way: protect waterways, control development in high-risk flood zones, improve drainage, preserve natural flood areas and provide safe locations where excess water can be managed.
The objective should not be to fight water after it arrives. It should be to manage the water before it becomes a disaster.
It would be unfair to blame every flood on HJRBDA or on dam operations. Extreme rainfall, inadequate drainage, settlement patterns and environmental degradation can all contribute to flooding.
But where negligence, inadequate maintenance, failure to conduct required inspections or failure to act on professional warnings is established, there must be accountability.
Public institutions cannot simply warn citizens and then leave them to face the consequences alone.
If authorities tell farmers to leave dangerous areas, they must provide alternatives. If communities are asked to evacuate, safe shelters and transportation must exist. If livestock must be moved, designated locations should be available.
Challawa Gorge Dam should not become a source of unnecessary fear. Neither should the absence of evidence of an imminent failure become an excuse for complacency.
The responsible approach is preparedness.
The government should move from a culture of “respond after the flood” to one of “prevent and prepare before the flood.”
The people of Kano, Jigawa and the Hadejia–Jama’are basin deserve more than annual warnings. They deserve functioning monitoring systems, credible emergency plans, regular dam inspections, evacuation routes, rescue capacity and clear communication.
The tragedy of 2024 should not be repeated before action is taken.
Challawa does not need panic. It needs preparation. And the time to prepare is before the water rises.
Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu
Email: balasalihudawakinkudu@gmail.com | Tel: 08060017934
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER 18TH AUGUST, 2026)
