Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government, yesterday, vehemently denied any plans to concession its over 200 dams across the country.
Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, stated this in Abuja, at a workshop organised by the ministry’s Department of Press and Public Relations, with the theme: ‘Effective Media Reporting: Towards Sustainable Audience Enlightenment of Successes Recorded in the Water Sector.’
Adamu also divulged government’s plan to increase the capacity of irrigation to 100, 000 hectares by 2030.
He said: “We are not concessioning dams. When we concession, we will concession the hydro power component of the dam. But, the dam would still be owned by the federal government. All we will do is to provide leasing arrangement for cage fish farming.
“We have concluded that of Gurara, where we have 30 megawatts of hydro power plant. All the processes leading to the concession have been done. What is left is for us to present it to the Federal Executive Council. We still have to wait because the transmission line is not working and it is not within the purview of the ministry. It has been taken by Transmission Company of Nigeria.”
Not done, he further reminded participants that over 47 million Nigerians still practice open defecation despite government effort, stressing that his administration would simmer down the number to the barest minimum by 2025.
“We are not particularly impressed with open defection. We launched a road map for open defecation free campaign in 2016. Our target is to end Open defecation by 2025.
On her part, Director, Press and Public Relations, Kenechukwu Offie, explained that the ministry assembled various directors to harp on the responsibilities of their departments; to enable journalists effectively report the sector.