Unthinkable! Hydropower Plants in Nigeria Lay in Waste

It is unimaginable that Nigeria stands as the African giant yet some parts of the country have been in darkness for over two decades. The power sector has been in shambles for years whereas million-dollar hydropower facilities are wasting away.

The research was carried out in October 2020 by a representative of Punch Nigeria who visited some localities in Western Nigeria – Ikere Gorge Dam in Oyo State and Oyan River Dam in Ogun State. The hydropower plants in these communities were expected to generate 15MW of electricity.

Ikere Dam which encompasses about 40 agrarian communities is bizarre because it prides itself on having a large dam with a storage capacity of 565 million cubic metres of water and prospective to produce no less than 6MW of electricity to power approximately 6,000 homes. Sadly, however, residents of these communities expressed grief for not having electricity for the past 22 years.

What’s more?

The dam was constructed in 1982 and the turbines, as well as its constituents that ought to generate electricity, have remained in their boxes ever since their purchase. They have been left wasting away.

Only but a few persons in this community could afford generators, the majority of the people have been in darkness. Businesses dependent on electricity have crumbled because of the lack of power supply. The abandonment of the hydropower station has not only resulted in a waste of funds used in procuring the turbines, it has also left the people backward in terms of development.

Also, the Oyan river dam which was constructed by the Shagari administration was expected to utilize three turbines to generate 3MW each of electric power. However, only one was fully installed and yet not a single watt of electricity has been produced from there till date as they have been deserted.

Finally, although consecutive governments claimed to have spent billions of dollars to fix the electricity problem, Nigerians have remained in darkness.