The Head of Department of Geosciences, Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Prof Dagogo Fubara, has said that the entire coastline of the Niger Delta may be submerged in the next 30 years, if the present rise in sea level is not checked.
Prof Fubara, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, also advised the Rivers State Government to take seriously the recent predictions by the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET) of an impending flood disaster.
He said that government must take precaution to ensure that the hazards were minimised.
‘Environmental hazard must come , but government must take precaution to make sure the effects are minimised, he said.
The elder statesman also regretted that in spite of the warning over rising sea level, the Federal Government seemed not to be paying serious attention to it.
According to him, the Federal Government needed to learn from the government of the Netherlands, which took precaution to build the necessary engineering structures to protect the country from Ocean surge.
Prof Fubara also said that government was paying lip service to the issue because most parts of Nigeria were not affected.
“They don’t care what happens to Niger Delta, they will still drill oil, even if the place is flooded.