By John Odunayo
The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Water Resources, has allocated N4.4bn to revive three abandoned dam projects.
This is in a bid to mitigate flooding, provide potable water, enhance irrigation and boost hydropower generation.
The three dam projects are the Ogbesse Multi-purpose Dam in Ekiti State, Farin Ruwa Multipurpose Dam in Nasarawa Stateand the Mangu Dam in Plateau State.
The Nasarawa State Government initiated the Farin Ruwa Dam project in 2003 to generate 20 megawatts of electricity and stimulate socio-economic development in the northern region.
However, the project was abandoned for nearly two decades due to funding constraints.
According to the former Minister of Water Resources, Mallam Suleiman Adamu, the Federal Government took over the project in 2021, pledging to complete it within 24 months. Nearly three years later, the project remains unfinished.
In May 2024, the current Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, stated that the government had included the dam project in the 2024 budget, and construction was ongoing.
Data obtained from GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses federal spending, shows that a total of N2.6bn has been allocated for the dam projects in three separate instalments.
Specifically, the Ministry of Water Resources paid N640,165,423 to Wiz China Worldwide Engineering Limited as part of the payment for completing the Nasarawa dam project.
Additionally, in May 2024, the government provided the Chinese company N1,074,622,990, followed by another N905,235,490 on September 4, 2024.
The Ogbese Multipurpose Dam project, initiated in 2009, was designed to provide hydroelectric power, irrigation and domestic water supply for over 450,000 people in Ekiti State.
According to Utsev, the dam was expected to generate around four megawatts of hydroelectric power for the national grid.
However, it too has suffered from neglect. GovSpend data indicates that on August 13, 2024, the Ministry of Water Resources paid N1,309,634,551 to Barbar Global Services Nigeria Limited for reconstruction work on the Ogbese Dam.
The Mangu Dam project, launched in 2002 by the Federal Government to provide potable water, support irrigation, and potentially generate electricity, was initially scheduled for completion in 2017.
Yet, over 22 years later, the project remains unfinished despite annual funding allocations.
It was gathered that on September 11, 2024, the government allocated N526,665,108 to Infiouest International Ltd for the completion of the Mangu Dam.
This data revealed that N4,456,323,562 has been allocated to the three abandoned dam projects under the current administration.
During an assessment tour of the Mangu Dam in October 2024, the Director of Dams and Reservoir Operations in the Ministry of Water Resources, Ali Dallah, stated that the Federal Government plans to construct additional dams to address flooding issues across the country.
He explained, “Flooding in Nigeria is primarily due to insufficient dams, which are essential for containing water and preventing downstream flooding. To achieve a reliable and sustainable solution, we need more functional dams.”
Dallah also noted that while countries like the United States have 92,000 functional dams and China has 98,000, Nigeria has only 408 registered dams.
