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Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Nigeria is losing more than N5 billion annually to the abandonment of Ikere Gorge Dam project located in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Critical potentials of the dam like power generation, potable water distribution, fish and aquatic resources as well as farming were said to have been left to waste.
The Ikere George Dam project was initiated in 1979 by the then General Olusegun Obasanjo’s military administration, while work started on the 565 cubic-metre multi-purpose dam in 1980 by the late President Shehu Shagari, after which it was abandoned.
The Ikere Gorge Dam is one of the 22 dams located in Oyo State, which is the second-highest in Nigeria after Kano with 23 dams. The Ikere Gorge Dam had been abandoned since 1982. The Federal Government brought turbines in 1982 to complete the project but the turbines have not been fixed in the past 38 years.
The alarm was raised by a socio-political group, Ebedi Frontliners, Iseyin (EFI), that made the disclosure after their monthly meeting which held at the palace of Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdulganiyu Adekunle Salau, at the weekend.
The EFI noted that the time has come for the Oyo State Government to enter into an agreement with the Federal Government on ways to agree on a concession arrangement so that the state can make use of the dam for its planned power generation project.
A statement signed by the Publicity Director of the group, Alhaji ‘Segun Fasasi, urged Governor Seyi Makinde to urgently seek the audience of the concerned federal agencies in order to curb waste and make good use of the potentials of the dam to raise the economic power of the state and promote job creation.
The statement read in part:
“Our country has shown over time that we like to see resources go to waste, we have gotten reliable data on financial loss Nigeria is accruing annually if you look at the potentials of Ikere Gorge Dam like the body of the water for drinking and farming, fish business, recreational activities and generation of power and the rest and I can safely tell you we lose over N5billion annually to the abandonment of the project.
“If we look at that humongous waste and our need as a nation, we can easily conclude that it is time that urgent attention is given to the project, we need the state government, through our amiable Governor Seyi Makinde to please look into this and find a way of reaching out to the Federal Government on a concession agreement so that the project can be completed and the people will benefit.”
The Oyo State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr Seun Ashamu, had recently announced the efforts being made by the state government towards achieving independent power supply as an option against the effects of poor electricity services in the country which, according to him, have been an albatross on economic growth.
Ashamu added that the state would take advantage of its vast natural potentials like dams and landscapes to achieve this feat among other efforts by the Makinde administration to revamp commercial activities and empower citizens.
Daily Sun gathered that Ikere Gorge Dam, which started 43 years ago, has the potentials for irrigation farming, generation of electricity and tourism. The dam was planned to generate 3,750 megawatts of hydroelectricity for dam and rural electrification programmes and to irrigate up to 1,200 hectares of farmland.
As gathered, the original impetus for the dam was the drought of 1973/74, which jolted the military regime. The regime of Murtala Mohammed/Olusegun Obasanjo that started in 1975 took steps to prepare the country for any such natural emergencies in future. Its policy response was the establishment of 12 River Basin Development Authorities spread across the country in 1976/77. The project has been on since 1977.
