The Federal Government has finalised plans to construct seven dams in the six southwestern states for irrigation purposes and to enhance food production.
This was revealed by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, Dr Adedeji Ashiru, on Wednesday in Lagos.
He said, “In line with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda to boost food production and control flooding, the Federal Government has concluded plans to build seven dams for irrigation purposes and enhance food production in the Southwest.
“We are building seven dams in the Southwest, and the contracts should be awarded between now and Friday. These dams are primarily for irrigation purposes, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s agriculture agenda to enable all-year-round farming and boost food production.
“Each location of these dams will have 12 greenhouses and open fields for farming. We will also have storage houses to store the farm produce.”
He also said plans are ongoing to concession the hydropower-generating component of the Oyan Dam to boost the country’s power supply.
Mr Ashiru said the dam, which was installed with three turbines at its construction in 1979, is capable of generating nine megawatts of electricity.
Ashiru disclosed this while speaking on “Developing Strategies for Management of Ecological Challenges” at the 46th Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria, held in Lagos.
He said there are ongoing discussions about concessioning the dam for power generation, with talks currently taking place with investors, and hoped to complete the concession plans by next year.
Mr Ashiru also mentioned that although the Oyan Dam, commissioned in 1979 with three turbines for generating nine megawatts of power, only operated for one hour after its commissioning, serious efforts are now underway to maximise its potential.
He told the consulting engineers to always apply their expertise to construct buildings capable of coping with flooding and other effects of climate change.
“The bedrock of engineering is design, and the primary responsibility of members of ACEN is to produce designs for engineering works. They should therefore incorporate green technology into their designs to help reduce the impact of global warming and climate change,” he said.
