Tuesday, 14 May 2013

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

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