There was great expectation that, with his coming into office, president Buhari would see to the construction of the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Dam, a project conceived in the early 1970s. The overthrow of the Shagari administration, the political turmoil and sustained economic downturn that followed meant no attention was paid to the project until the advent of the Fourth Republic. President Obasanjo’s choice, in his second term, of contractor financing to execute the project hit a snag during president Yar’adua’s administration, with the contractor-financier taking Nigeria to UK courts for breach of contract. Untangling the mess no doubt took time and effort, with likely financial settlement.
The award of the contract for the Mambilla HEP Dam to a consortium of Chinese companies in 2017 raised hopes of its early take-off. That must have dimmed greatly with the recent announcement by the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman that the project was being scaled down. Citing its “unbankability” at the original design capacity of 3050MW, the minister said now the project was being rescoped to produce 1500MW only. Meaning only half of the twelve turbines originally slated for installation would now be installed – if the dam aspect itself is not affected. Given our way of doing things, it would take the rest of this century and beyond before attention reverted to it for the balance to be installed.
For an administration committed to infrastructure development, the claim of unbankability of Mambilla HEP – a project with much promise to the power sector of the economy – should be rejected out of hand. Government always finds the resources to fund programmes and projects it prioritises – as this administration has done in many instances. It should augment whatever foreign funding is available with annual budget provision until completion – around 2030.
Nigeria has Ethiopia to look to for example in the instant case. Lacking international finance, the country is constructing the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD) – a 6000MW undertaking costing an estimated $5.8 billion – “with crowd funding through internal fund raising in the form of selling bond and persuading employees to contribute a portion of their incomes.” No need to go to the latter extreme here: there’s an abundance of billionaires who should be persuaded to invest long-term in the project. At all costs, the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Dam must see the light of day in its original design capacity. Government has the tools, it should put them to use.
Usman writes from Kaduna
