Issues as Yobe, Bauchi awaits EIA report on Kafin-Zaki dam By Abdul-Rahman Abubakar The people of four states out of the six states in the North eastern pasrt of the country have been thrown into expectations and anxiety on the possibilities of the federal government constructing the Kafin-Zaki dam in Bauchi State. The proposed dam which is said to have the potentials of generating up to 1 million jobs to the people of the upstream of River Jama’are has become a source of sleepless nights for the downstream users of the river in Yobe, Jigawa, Borno and parts of Niger Republic that share border with Damask town in Borno state. As the controversy over the project rages over the years, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua instituted investigation into the viability of the dam. The late leader resolved to commission a private firm to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which is required by law before such a project is carried out. The EIA report is to ascertain among several other things the impact of the dam on all upstream and downstream users of the river. This is with the view of identifying the socio-economic impact of the project on the people whose means of livelihood depends on the river as natural a resource. The age long agitation and counter agitation for construction of Kafin-Zaki dam took a different dimension with declaration by then Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed that the Yar’adua administration will ensure the completion of the dam before the end of its tenure. Yayale was reported to have made the promise to the people of Bauchi state when he led a federal government condolence delegation to the state over the death of the emir. As a very senior government official, the declaration caused anxiety and fear in the minds of the downstream users of the River Jama’are who are faced with possibility of great lost to their source of livelihood. The people of Yobe, Jigawa and Borno depend on the river for farming and fishing which sustains over 10 million people. The SGF’s promise was also coming at a time when the EIA has not been completed by Sahel Consult Nigeria limited which was commissioned in February 2010 to conduct the EIA. The firm has also been facing paucity of funds to carry out the exercise while there is no budgetary provision for the Kafin-Zaki dam project in the 2010 budget. In contrast to Yayale’s position, President Goodluck Jonathan had told a delegation of Bauchi State government to the Presidential Villa recently that he would have to study the report of the EIA before taking a final decision on whether or not to go ahead with the Kafin-Zaki dam project. There are indications that while the President is awaiting the EIA report, the SGF had already gone ahead to assure the people that come what may, the dam project must be accomplished. Worried by the SGF’s declaration, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan representing Yobe North said Yayale’s position hurts the feelings of the downstream communities of the River Jama’are. In a reaction to the SGF’s position, Lawan said a decision on the project cannot be reached without a report of the ongoing EIA. Senator Lawan said the SGF’s comments has subjected the downstream communities of the river in Yobe, Jigawa and Borno state to ‘sleepless nights’ as their major source of livelihood is about to be curtailed by the dam construction. According to Lawan the downstream communities are “Worried that the SGF, a principal functionary of the federal government appears to be partisan and partial in this matter.” The communities are already harbouring doubts on the possibilities of an unfavourable report of the EIA. “The statement credited to the SGF is surely pre-emptive of the EIA report and could jeopardize the credibility and integrity of the impending EIA exercise. We are concerned that the EIA could have a predetermined outcome and the entire exercise could be a sham,” Lawan said. However controversy over construction of the dam has been on for ages and had engaged politicians from all divides within the areas that benefit from the Rivers Jama’are and Yobe. Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda made several frantic efforts at actualising the dream of constructing the dam which has potential of boosting economic activities in parts of the state. His move has also met stiff resistance from Senator Lawan and later, Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State. In a presentation to a delegation of the EIA consultants, Geidam expressed opposition to construction of the dam. He told the experts that the economic well being of the people of Yobe has already faced set back by the construction of the Tigga and Challawa Gorge Dams in Kano state. He said the construction of the two dams had arrested 40 percent of water that flows naturally from Hadejia River into the Kumadugu-Yobe Basin. He said “The attendant consequence were catastrophic.” The governor said the state will do all in its power to resist any attempt at constructing the dam that will arrest the remaining 55 percent flow of water to the basin thereby putting the livelihood of about 10 million farmers and fishermen that rely on the river in jeopardy. A new twist to the matter was the introduction of international dimension to the controversy. The Kafin-Zaki dam serves as one of the sources of water supply to the endangered Lake Chad. Aside that the Yobe River also flows into part of Niger Republic which borders Damasak in Borno State before meandering back into Nigeria. Senator Lawan said affected communities in Niger Republic have since reported the matter to the Water Conference in Stockholm, Sweden and are ready to take further action against Nigeria should government go ahead with plans to construct the dam. As the controversy rages, it is pertinent for governments of all the affected areas to begin to prepare for eventualities. Presently, the people of affected communities in Bauchi, Yobe, Jigawa and Borno State are relying on the river for irrigation farming and fishing. Presently, Yobe and Borno State alone have the capacity of about 100,000 hectares of irrigable land and fishing potentials that could fetch up to N3 billion annually. Unless government ensures strict compliance to the EIA report of the Tigga and Challawa Gorge dams on side through the ongoing re-optimisation project and that of the proposed Kafin-Zaki dam which is to be the second largest dam in the country, the rich potentials of Kumadugu-Yobe basin could as well dry up with the river. (Daily Trust, August 11, 2010)
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 05:10:28 +0000
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