HOW OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE THE RESOURCES
Water and electricity
generating equipment worth, in today’s money, more than N50 billion,
purchased by the Ogun-Osun River Basin Authority 31 years ago, to
provide water for Nigerians are rotting away in various parts of the
country.
Some of these equipment are at Ikere Gorge Dam in Iseyin
Local Government Area of Oyo State. The dam, which is the fourth largest
in the world and first of its kind in Africa, was initiated by the
military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979 but was started in
1983 by the administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
The dam was named
gorge because it was constructed in the valley, surrounded by hills. It
covered about 47 kilometres as of 1980 when the experts came but it
could have been more than that now. The dam, if completed, would have
been generating 3750 megawatts of electricity and 565 million cubic
metres of water annually to Iseyin, Saki, Okeho and its environs.
The
dam was one of the promises Alhaji Shagari made to General Obasanjo in
1979 before he handed over the baton of government to him (Shagari). It
was further learnt that it was in fulfilment of the promise that Alhaji
Shagari embarked on the project in 1983 and it was 95 per cent completed
when he was toppled by the military junta, led by General Muhammadu
Buhari and the late General Tunde Idiagbon in 1983.
Since then,
successive governments had not considered the completion of the project a
priority, considering the plight of the people in the area. The
administrations of Generals Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Chief
Ernest Shonekan and Abdulsalami Abubakar did not visit the site of the
dam, not to mention doing anything on it.
Before the construction of
the dam, some people were displaced and government had since resettled
them in a good environment. Towards the end of the President Obasanjo’s
civilian administration government officials showed interest in the
project.
Ikere dam, located in Iseyin Local Government Area, The
equipment worth N5 billion in 1983, have now become obsolete and as a
result, they are no longer useful for their original purpose following
neglect by successive administrations in the country.
Investigation
revealed that these equipment imported in 1983 by the Alhaji Shagari
administration were dumped at the dam and were left to rot. They were
not installed at the dam for water and electricity to be made available
to the people.
Similar dams were built in different parts of the
country and were expected to provide water and electricity for the
people, but while those in the northern part of the country were
functioning effectively, the same could not be said of those in the
South.
A source, working with the authority, said that lack of
commitment by the country’s leaders had been responsible for the crisis
in the power sector. Apart from the people in the South who have been
grappling with epileptic power supply and lack of potable water, the
worst- hit are the people who live in the vicinity of these dams.
The
equipment imported for the project had become obsolete to the extent
that new equipment would need to be imported for the possible completion
of the project which started 31 years ago. The obsolete equipment
include two turbines which are expected to generate six megawatts of
electricity, and two coils which are expected to power the turbines; the
power house, which now serves as residence for reptiles while the
inside has been overgrown with weeds and two generating sets, which is
to supply electricity to the power house and the control room.
On
completion, the dam is expected to generate electricity through
turbines, supply drinking water to Iseyin, Okeho, Saki and environs,
irrigate 12,000 hectares of land during the dry season, provide water
for fishery activities, supply 82 million cubic metres of water to Iju
Water Works in Lagos during the dry season and provide transportation
services for people living behind the dam.
The dam is currently
providing water to Iju Water Works and irrigation farms along Oyo-Iseyin
road. Some fishermen were at the dam engaged in fishing. Each fish
farmer is expected to pay N1,500 annually to the Ogun-Osun River Basin
Authority for the right to fishing at the dam.There are eight landing
ports at the dam. These include Shaka, Agatu, Dobe, Alagbon, Aba Samu,
Bendal and Alagbede. There are also two camps: Fishermen and Irewole.
Another
problem is that the road leading to the dam is not motorable as people
have to spend about two hours on a bike before getting to the dam. In
fact, no motorist would be willing to ply the 28-kilometre road leading
to the dam from Iseyin. The former President Olusegun Obasanjo would
have inaugurated the project but jettisoned the idea when he was told
that the road was in a bad state.
According to a source, the basin
authority was waiting for the Water Corporation of Oyo State to connect
the dam with a reservoir before laying pipes that would take water to
the doorsteps of the people in the area.
He added that another link
for the generation and supply of electricity to the affected areas was
awaiting the service of the state electricity board.He stressed the need
for the replacement of the equipment purchased 31 years ago for the
effective functioning of the dam. Some of the residents who spoke with
the Nigerian Tribune on the state of the dam expressed dismay at the
attitude of the government to the plight of the people in the area.www.softhandpartners.com
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
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