The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Terlumun, has reiterated Federal Government’s determination to rehabilitate dams to alert flooding and irrigation purposes.
Terlumun made the assurance when he led a team of the Inter-ministerial Technical Committee on Evaluation of Dams in Nigeria to Shagari Dam in Sokoto state on Monday.
Represented by Mrs Oluwatosin Abiola, the Deputy Director of Dams and Reservoir in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources said many dams in Nigeria are aging and require maintenance and upgrades.
He explained that a technical sub-committee chaired by Director of Dams and Reservoir Operations was constituted to conduct the exercise.
He said the visit to various dams across the country is to access their conditions and evaluate their safety status for potential flood control and economic use
He observed that Shagari Dam is safe and its condition was not deteriaroting in consideration of water reserve, embankments, spillways and irrigatable areas.
The Team leader stressed the need for increased investment in dam construction and maintenance to ensure maximum utilization of its capacity for food production in the country.
He added that the committee was inaugurated to assess the physical condition of dams nationwide and examine their impact on local communities.
According to him, the findings would be submitted to the main committee for onward action and citizens that it’s Dam would be put into full use and ensure measures to avert food.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Sokoto Rima Basin Development Authority (SRBDA), Mr Buhari Bature, commended the President Bola Tinubu on the initiative.
Bature said Shagari Dam is 15 million cubics capacity, 13 meters hight, 1,340 metres length with 240 hectares of irrigation land at present.
He said 1,000 hectares have been proposed as Dam irrigatable land noting that at present 70 percent level of completion was achieved.
The Newsmen reports that the team’s evaluation is expected to provide valuable insights into the current state of Nigeria’s dam infrastructure as well as help in informing future policy decisions related to flood control and water resource management.
The members of the committee are: Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation; Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.
Others are Dave Umahi, Minister of Works; Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser; Musa Dangiwa, Minister of Housing and Urban Development.
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