Rashidat Oladele
In a bid to optimize the functionality of the nation’s dams and boost revenue generation, the Federal Government has announced plans to partially commercialize the dams under the 12 river basins across the country.
Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, gave the hint during an inspection of the Tiga dam in Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano State, recently.
It was gathered that Utsev was at the Tiga dam to assess its current state and the challenges, with a view to addressing them.
The Minister informed that the commercialization aims to generate increased revenues for the Federal Government by leveraging the potential of the dams.
Utsev also pointed out that the decision to commercialize the dams reflects the government’s commitment to harnessing the full potential of Nigeria’s water resources.
He said: “As the commercialization process unfolds, it is expected that the dams will be operated in a manner that balances economic viability with environmental sustainability. This will ensure that the benefits derived from these water resources are maximized while preserving the ecological integrity of the surrounding areas.”
The Minister assured that the vast infrastructure present in the basins would ensure a favorable return on investments.
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“This commercialization effort aims to establish sustainable operations and management of the infrastructure within the basins. The basins possess significant infrastructure, including water supply schemes, dams, and irrigation systems, which require substantial funding to ensure their continuous operation and provide benefits to the Nigerian people.
“The primary purposes of constructing the dam were irrigation, flood control, and energy generation. Additionally, the Federal Government is eager to collaborate with commercial farmers to promote extensive production of various food crops throughout the year. This partnership will contribute to enhancing food security and agricultural productivity in Nigeria.
“We are ready to partner with commercial farmers; they come and register with us, and we will allow them to tap water from the dam for commercial farming, which will help immensely in enhancing food production.
“Farmers are tapping water illegally from the canals, and this will have a negative impact; hence, we are working towards calling the attention of the farmers so that they will register with the government and the water will be supplied to them. We will also update our database for effective service delivery,” he added.
Earlier, the Managing Director of the Hadejia Jamma’are River Basin, Ma’Amun Dau Aliyu, explained that more than 3 million farmers were benefiting from the Tiga Dam while hundreds of others were syphoning the water illegally.
He said the basin had since commenced moves to mobilise all those operating illegally so that they would register.
Aliyu hinted that the dam, built 50 years ago, was constructed on 1.4 billion cubic feet of water capacity and was intended to serve about five million combined Kano/Jigawa people. He regretted that the dam was being under-utilized.
He said Tiga Dam had canals and small dams that linked up to Lake Chad through the Kamadugu River Basin in Yobe State, adding that with the commercialisation of the dam, more economic inputs would be recorded.
