Turbines at mega dams in Oyo and Ogun states waste away in spite of problems of electricity facing Nigeria, CHUX OHAI writes

The journey to Iseyin in Oyo State, from Lagos through Ibadan, is smooth until one gets to Isalu, a community within the ancient town. Then it turns to a nightmare. The reason is that between the community and the famous Ikere Gorge Dam lies a 35 km stretch of bumpy and untarred road.

Although the road is bordered by shade trees, mostly cashew trees planted for commercial purposes by an agency of the Oyo State Government, the entire stretch is rough and riddled with potholes.

As the journey progresses, though tortuously, a vast and beautiful landscape marked by rolling hills and lush farmlands gradually unfolds. The atmosphere is calm and serene, yet it contrasts with the general mood of most of the people that are heading to their farms in small groups.

Investigation shows that the road, which the residents describe as a Federal Government project, was originally built over 60 years ago by the people in order to transport their farm products. Today, it is one of the reasons why there appears to be intense anxiety among the residents of Iseyin and other communities surrounding the dam.

The dam itself is the other factor. They are both subjects of seemingly endless appeals to the Federal Government for intervention.

Abandoned to rot

Many residents of Iseyin consider the Ikere Gorge Dam to be vital to the economic well-being of the community. In an interview with our correspondent, one of its (community’s) leaders, Chief Kehinde Ayoola, says that at the onset it was meant to serve four purposes: to supply electricity to the immediate communities surrounding it, supply water, irrigation and fishing.

He says, “After the dam was commissioned by former President Shehu Shagari in 1980, we were full of expectations. But our dreams were shattered when it turned out that the dam had only been 90 per cent completed. Eventually the government abandoned it. The projects for which it was acquired were abandoned, too. Most of the equipment meant for the hydro power component of its operations, particularly the turbines, was not installed and the situation has remained this way for about 30 years.”

A recent tour of parts of the facility, indeed, shows that some equipment meant for the hydro power component of the dam are yet to be installed. There are tell-tale signs of disuse on the items. But, contrary to some earlier reports, which said that this equipment had become moribund due to disuse, another leader of the community, Sir Emmanuel Oke, insists that they are not.

Oke says, “I have discovered that the abandoned equipment at the dam is still in top shape and can still be used for the hydro power project. We brought a Canadian engineer to inspect the equipment – which was supplied by a German company that is no longer in existence.

“After he inspected the equipment, he told us that if given the opportunity, within three months he would produce six megawatts of electricity with the same equipment and with minimum repairs. The engineer and his team in Detroit, USA are waiting for government to invite them to Nigeria to handle the hydro power aspect of the dam’s operations. He is very optimistic that the problem will be solved.”

He also notes that with plenty of fresh water, the dam was initially expected to produce fish for local consumption.

“The Federal Government banned the importation of fish and here is a dam that can produce about a quarter of the quantity of fish that this country needs. Yet it is wasting away,” he adds.

Oke wants the government to do something urgently to enable the Ikere Gorge Dam to function. But he thinks that the first step to revamping the facility should begin with the reconstruction of the access road.

“The first thing that government must do is to reconstruct the 35km stretch of road leading to the dam. The road has been neglected for too long. It must be repaired. Without this, people cannot visit the dam. There is no country that will have that kind of facility in Ikere and not turn it into a tourist attraction in order to generate scarce foreign exchange. Some of us have visited the Akossombo Dam in Ghana and we know that it is the heart and soul of that country. Today, it is one of the largest tourist attractions in West Africa,” he says.

The residents claim that repeated attempts to persuade the government to rehabilitate the road often met with a brick wall.

“The first thing we heard was that the road was not attended to because the Ikere Gorge Dam Road led to nowhere. Can there be any road on 700 cubic meters of water?” Oke asks.

Both Oke and Ayoola seem to agree that the Ikere Gorge Dam could produce more megawatts of electricity than the residents of Iseyin and neighbouring communities have been made to believe.

“The gradient of the turbine is the problem. If it had been graded high, it would drop more water. But it was done in such a way that it can produce only six megawatts. Also, I think the argument that the government should increase the capacity of the dam has to be withdrawn. The reason is that any attempt to reconstruct the dam may lead to the flooding of some parts of Oyo and Ogun States.

“The volume of water in that area is only being maintained. The only thing they are doing at the Ikere Gorge Dam today is to maintain it. They budgeted about N10m just to supervise the dam and to make sure the water does not overflow. Is that how we are to live forever? It is sad. It shows that the government is playing on the intelligence of the people in the area,” Oke says.

Insufficient farmlands

Further investigation shows that although the area can produce more than 20,000 hectares of irrigated land, a pivotal irrigation project for 20 hectares of land only is currently in progress at the Ikere Gorge Dam.

Our correspondent gathered that over 400 farmers are currently waiting to be allocated land and it is believed that 20 hectares of irrigated land is far from being sufficient for their needs.

With regular electricity supply guaranteed, the people expect that private investors will set up processing plants for the farm products. They are confident that more people will be able to grow a wide variety of food and cash crops, including water melons, maize, soya beans, rice and integrated farming will be introduced, just as lots of fish will be produced.

The end result, Ayoola says, will be the creation of jobs for thousands of unemployed people in the area.

The bad road that leads to Ikere Gorge Dam

But, describing what happened after the government acquired land from the community for the purpose of building the dam, Oke says, “To the best of my knowledge, about 60 years ago, the Western Nigeria Development Corporation – perhaps with the assistance of the Federal Government – acquired the huge expanse of land surrounding the dam. The land amounted to thousands of hectares. The original owners of the land were forced to leave the area. The encroachment affected the communal life there and everything else, including the education of the people. In spite of this, they were not compensated in any way. As a result, the members of Isalu community in Iseyin, who were using the land for farming before government acquired it, are still unhappy.”

‘Why we are keen on electricity’

The greater part of the people’s complaints about the Ikere Gorge Dam appears to focus on the revival of the hydro power component of the dam’s operations. Explaining why, Ayoola says, “Everybody knows that power generation is the engine room of any economy. If we had regular supply of electricity, investors would like to set up businesses here. This will in turn lead to the provision of jobs for thousands of unemployed youth.

“We mounted pressure on the Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority, which we regard as the agent of the Federal Government. But each time we approached them, they always gave excuses.

“All we ask is for government to ensure that work on the dam is completed. If financing the project has become such a problem, it should open up the place to private investors. We want progress and nothing else.”

An aerial view of the power house at Ikere Dam

Also, the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Ganiyu Adekunle Ajinase, notes that small and large scale industries around the town and its neighbouring communities have been closing down for want of adequate power supply.

He says, “I am appealing to government to do something urgently to revive the facility, especially the hydro power component. We need electricity in this area badly. In fact, many small scale and large scale industries in Iseyin and neighbouring towns are closing down because of inadequate supply of power.”

Recalling the mood among the people when the Ikere Gorge Dam was commissioned in 1980, he continues, “We were all happy when they started bringing in a lot of equipment to the place. The last time I visited the dam, I was not very comfortable with what I saw. I believe the dam is an asset to the entire nation.”

More promises

In a recent development, the Chairman of the Board of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, Col. Ibrahim Biu, (rtd), said in Abeokuta that the agency had concluded plans to revive the 27-year-old Oyan Dam hydro power plant.

Biu made this known to members of the board and journalists during an assessment tour of facilities at the dam.

Noting that the dam, which was originally built in 1983 to supply water to Lagos and Ogun States, had a hydro power component with an installed capacity to generate nine mega watts of electricity, he said, “The plant had, however, remained abandoned with only one of the three turbines meant for the project installed.”

Biu expressed concern that the huge resources that had been committed to the dam were being allowed to waste away.

“We are just wasting money and other resources that have been committed to this place. If it had been completed and the equipment put to use, the communities around this place would have continued to benefit from it,” he said.

Also, he pointed out that many of the equipment at the dam had become obsolete due to neglect of the project by successive governments and then, expressing the hope that the plant would be rehabilitated, he said, “We have already instructed the acting managing director to submit a comprehensive report on the state of the project. We will study and deliberate on it and come up with useful recommendations for the resuscitation of the abandoned project.”

Inadequate funding crippling our operations – OORBDA

The Deputy Director, Public Relations, of the Ogun Oshun River Basin Development Authority, Femi Dokunmu, indicates, in another interview with our correspondent, that there is a plan to rehabilitate the access road to Ikere Gorge Dam.

Acknowledging that the road is in a very bad shape, Dokunmu says, “We are trying to work on it, in collaboration with some members of the National Assembly representing those areas. We have approached the Ministry of Works about the road in the past. But they always say it is not their priority because it leads to a dam.

“Now, the members of the National Assembly representing that area are investing some money on the road to ensure that it is constructed. They are going to use their constituency allowances to take care of some parts of the road.”

Also describing the functions of the Oyan and Ikere Gorge Dams, especially as it concerns the supply of water, he says, “Once it is dry season and the Lagos State Water Corporation and the Ogun State Water Corporation don’t have enough water along the Ogun River, they appeal to us and we will open the Oyan Dam and Ikere Gorge Dam, so that can have enough to draw from their intakes.

“Part of the design of those dams is to support water supply to Lagos and Ogun States. The other aspect is that the neighbouring communities to the Ikere Gorge Dam, Iseyin, Igboho, Igangan and others are expected to tap water from the dam. In fact, the authorities have passed a dedicated pipe through these areas. What is left is for the Oyo State Government, through the Water Corporation, to plug into the pipe and the people will have ready supply of raw water from the dam.”

But Dokunmu says that certain challenges facing the Ogun Oshun River Basin Development Authority have to an extent limited its operations.

He says, “Insufficient funding is one of such challenges. For instance, if there was adequate funds to rehabilitate the road to Ikere Gorge Dam, part of our problems would have been solved. Also, we need funding for some of the things we want to do in the area of irrigation.

Inside the abandoned power house

“We don’t have regular supply of electricity to power the Middle Ogun Irrigation Project. For this reason, we have had to spend a lot of money on the purchase of diesel. But if there is improved electricity supply, we will be able to have the irrigation project delivering more farm products.

“Also, there is the need for collaboration among the ministry of works, ministry of power and ministry of water resources in Oyo and Ogun States. That is another challenge. If cooperation between these ministries can be effective, some areas that require the attention of other ministries can be looked into. Therefore, the aspect of the hydropower component of the dams can be fully utilised by the ministry of power.

“Although the Middle Ogun Irrigation Project is working in Iseyin, there are challenges. For example, the water may be available, but to get it to the farmlands, we have to use generators often and this entails buying diesel.”

He says that though the Ogun Osun River Basin Authority is being inundated with requests for land from intending private investors, there is very little that the body can do about it at present

“We have a lot of requests from people here and there. But the problem is that we don’t have enough farms to give out now. We have a piece of land at Ito-iki, on the way to Lagos from Ijebu Ode via Epe. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has been requesting for land at Ito-iki in Lagos. Also, the Lagos State Government Agricultural Cooperative has a piece of land there,” he says.