Nigeria’s damned dam

Flooded padi fields in Jere, near Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria, where a dam collapsed.— ©2024 The New York Times Company

FOR years, villagers near the Alau Dam in northeastern Nigeria warned government officials that the structure was failing, that the reservoir was overflowing and that a major flood was inevitable.

Yet, in early September, following days of heavy rain, a delegation of government officials stood at the dam, their boots stuck in the mud, assuring the public that all was well.