The unending journey of Kafin Zaki Dam

Indeed, the North-east region is said to be the nation’s cornerstone of food security programme because of the numerous rivers, streams and bodies of waters capable of transforming the needed fortune in agriculture, hydro-electricity and transportation.The first deliberate and concerted effort at the development of water resource potential in the country is synonymous with the […]

Indeed, the North-east region is said to be the nation’s cornerstone of food security programme because of the numerous rivers, streams and bodies of waters capable of transforming the needed fortune in agriculture, hydro-electricity and transportation.
The first deliberate and concerted effort at the development of water resource potential in the country is synonymous with the history of the Kafin Zaki Dam project which was brought about by the devastating drought of 1972/73 which ravaged the relatively fast growing agro-economy of northern Nigeria and other sub -saharan African countries.
Series of activities and meetings in 1973 between officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Natural Resources, Kano, officials of the then North Eastern states and international consultants gave birth to the establishment of River Basin Development Authorities and the conceptualization of Tiga, Challawa and Kafin Zaki Dam projects.
The Kafin Zaki Dam project is a federal government project located in Bauchi state, at the upper stream of Jamaare basin which originates from the Plateau mountains.
While the Tiga, Challawa Gorge Dam and the Southern Lake Chad irrigation projects have been successfully completed in Kano and Borno states and contributing significantly to the economies of the states, the Kafin Zaki Dam project is yet to see the light of the day.     
In 1981, the Shehu Shagari administration for the first time awarded the contract for the construction of Kafin Zaki Dam to a German Company called Dywidag, as pillars of the administration’s Green Revolution Programme but the project was stalled due to financial constraints (Austerity Measure).
Ten years later, the General Ibrahim Babangida administration re-awarded the contract to Messrs Julius Berger but the contract was suspended by the General Sani Abacha administration as a result of legal tussles between the two German multi-national companies and was followed by the institution of judicial panel of inquiry whose  report has never been made public.
Since his assumption of office in 2007, the Bauchi State Governor Mallam  Isa Yuguda has prioritised the construction of Kafin Zaki Dam with all the needed passion and vigour for socio-economic transformation of the people’s fortune.
In 2008, approval was granted by the federal government for the continuation of the Kafin Zaki Dam under a Public Private Partnership with Dangote Group and soon after an EIA was conducted and submitted to the Federal Ministry of Environment in May 2009.
The Kafin Zaki Dam project upon completion is estimated to have at least 125,000 hectare of irrigable land with 80,000 in Bauchi state, 15,000 in Jigawa state, Yobe, 25,000, and Borno State, 5,000.
While expected hydro-power stands at 15mega watt, bio fuel of 45mw from sugar cane is to be irrigated. These are in addition to the emergence of agro-allied industries capable of generating one million jobs for the teeming youths of the states.
The new driving force for the completion of the Kafin Zaki Dam led by the Bauchi State Governor Mallam Isa Yuguda and the people of the state was not unmindful of the earlier misgivings on the project by the downstream water users.
The concept would regulate water flow down to Gashua River, thereby reducing annual flooding with the worst scenerio being the 2012 season.
The Kafin Zaki Dam would no doubt fit squarely in the master plan for the comprehensive economic development within the North-east sub-region, which is presently overtaken by poverty, unemployment, social vices and the likes, and would strengthen the Federal Government Transformation Agenda in the agricultural sector.
Sani ([email protected]) contributed this piece from Bauchi.