Haruna Gimba Yaya, Gombe & Magaji Isa Hunkuyi, Jalingo
By November 7, it will be three years since the contractor handling the 40megawatts Dadin-Kowa hydropower plant project in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State announced that it was ready for commissioning. Three years after, Daily Trust Saturday visited the power plant and writes on its desolate condition and the dashed hope of its host community.
The Dadin-Kowa hydropower plant was initiated in 1959 and located in the present Gombe State to generate 40megawatts of electricity.
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The people of Dadin-Kowa town and adjoining communities were delighted that the power project would add spur to the socio-economic development of the state, northern region and the country in general.
Although the project was initiated a year before Nigeria’s independence, the contract for the dam was not awarded until 1980, and the inauguration eight years later, 1988, by then military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
The reservoir has a capacity of 800 million cubic meters of water and a surface area of 300 square km.
The dam has potential as a source of fish, but nothing serious was done on the electricity potential until recently.
While the dam was inaugurated nearly 34 years ago, work on the electricity component, designed to produce 40megawatts of electricity, has been going back and forth for 31 years after the dam components had been completed.
The Dadin-Kowa dam is located 5km north of Dadin-Kowa village and 37km from Gombe town, along Biu road.
It was expected to attract small, medium and large-scale industries to the area, which in turn would provide employment opportunities for thousands of jobless youths, in addition to generating more revenue for the state.
The managing director of MABON Energy Limited, the contractor handling the project, Mr Cyril Christopher, had on November 7, 2019 informed Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya during a courtesy call, that the multi-billion-naira project was completed and ready for commissioning.
To leverage on the power plant, the Gombe State Government earmarked 1,000 hectares of land near Dadin-Kowa for the establishment of an industrial park christened ‘Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park,’ with the first phase ready for commissioning.
However, the joy of the people, who have waited patiently for many years for the completion and subsequent inauguration of the plant, was short-ived because three years after the said completion, the project is yet to be commission.
The earlier scheduled commissioning of the project by President Muhammadu Buhari was delayed and then attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world.
However, almost two years after the pandemic was subdued, the project is yet to be commissioned and there was no concrete explanation from either the federal government or the contractor handing it.
Perturbed by the situation, residents of Dadin-Kowa town, the host community of the hydropower plant, expressed displeasure over the delay in inaugurating the project, three years after its completion.
A resident of the community, Musa Ibrahim, said they were very sad that authorities failed to fulfil their promise to inaugurate the project, three years after its completion, “and following many years of endless waiting.”
Mai Unguwa, who owns a cold room in Dadin-Kowa town, lamented that the community had been experiencing blackout despite being host to the power plant.
“We are facing challenges. Had it been the power plant was commissioned, there would have been more development in this community and the masses would not suffer.
“And companies would have established businesses here, which would provide job opportunities to our youths. I am really saddened by this delay,” he said.
The chairman of Welders Association in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area, Malam Madu Walla, lamented that he spent an average of N50,000 weekly to fuel his generator.
He said the delay in commissioning the project and putting it into use was badly affecting his business.
“In 2019, we were told that President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya would commission the project, but up till today, we are yet to start benefitting from it,” he lamented.
Some residents of Dadin-Kowa town said they sometimes spent two weeks without electricity in their homes.
Other residents of Gombe State, especially barbers, tailors, welders, operators of cold rooms and other people whose occupation rely heavily on electricity, decried the delay in commissioning the project and the exorbitant cost they incurred while running their businesses on power generators.
They appealed to the federal government and other relevant authorities to investigate the current status of the power plant and fast track its commissioning.
During a recent visit by our correspondent to the plant, located 37 kilometres from Gombe, the state capital, only few workers were seen on site, mostly security personal guarding the very expensive infrastructures.
During the visit, it was observed that the gigantic building housing the twin turbines was under lock, while only two security personnel in plain clothes were seen around the premises and nearby transmission station.
Our correspondent reports that access to the power plant was easier, unlike three years ago when it was very strict. Now, only two elderly local security guards are manning the main gate to the power plant.
The environment was calm and there was no visible work going on within the premises. However, the buzzing sound of the transmission station could be heard as one got closer to the area.
A staff member told Daily Trust Saturday that all the engineers and other workers left the plant since March 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic was recorded in the country, adding that most of them did not return.
He said that before the place was shut down, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) had given the contractor handling the project the permission to connect the 40mw generated at the plant to the national grid.
The staff complained that few of them still engaged by two companies were rendered redundant, receiving only a fraction of their salaries, “because we are not doing anything as the plant was shut down almost two years ago.
“I worked at the plant as a system engineer, and I can assure you that the work is completed, but 40mw of electricity is being wasted at the plant in a country that very badly needs power for development.”
When contacted, officials of China Power and MABON Energy Limited declined to speak on the matter. They directed our correspondent to seek clearance from senior officials of the companies in Abuja.
As residents of Dadin-Kowa and Gombe State in general are still wondering when they would start enjoying electricity, there is also the concern that further delay in commissioning the power plant would negatively affect the huge resources spent on the project.
Kashinbila power station commissioned, but can’t supply power to entire state
The 40MW hydro power station in Kashinbila, Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State, was commissioned in March this year.
However, despite the commissioning, only a section of the state is currently enjoying power supply from the station.
Findings revealed that presently, only five local government areas located in the southern part of state are linked to station.
It was further gathered that electricity from the station is evacuated through a power line to Yendev in Benue State from where it is transmitted to Plateau and Gombe states.
A source at the station who would not like his name mentioned told Daily Trust Saturday that only two out of the four turbines with 10 megawatts generating capacity each are operating and this is because of lack of proper evacuation lines.
Daily Trust Saturday findings revealed that the station was designed to supply power to southern Taraba, Benue, Plateau and Gombe states, leaving the entire central senatorial zone of Taraba State without power supply from the national grid.
The source said the station has the capacity to generate 40 Megawatts at a time but because of lack of transmission, only 20 Megawatts is being generated.
The hydro power station is also to serve as a corridor for evacuation of power from the proposed 3,050 Mambilla hydro power project but that is yet to be realized because nothing is going at the site of the proposed Mambilla hydro power project. In its design, power generated from the station will supply electricity to southern Taraba which comprises Takum, Donga, Wukari, Ibbi and Ussa local government areas.
The areas have already started enjoying power supply from the station through a 132kv power line while power is also being evacuated to Yendev in Benue State and to the FCT, Plateau and Gombe states.
Daily Trust gathered that the Kashinbila hydro power project was influenced by General T.Y. Danjuma during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
It was further learnt that other parts of the state and Taraba central senatorial zone were not part of areas to be linked to the power station.
This according to some observers was wrong because a greater part of the area is not linked to the national grid and the station which is now functional would have solved the electricity need of the state, including Jalingo the state capital.
To the dismay of the people of the state, 40MW of electricity generated from the Kashinbila hydro power is being evacuated to Benue, Plateau, Gombe and Bauchi states, while the state is faced with epileptic power supply from the national grid.
A source at the Yola Electricity Supply Company told Daily Trust that sometime, the entire Jalingo receives between eight and nine megawatts of electricity.
“You see, if part of the power generated from Kashinbila hydro power station is supplied to the entire Taraba State, electricity supply problem will be addressed.”
Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the Federal Polytechnic Bali spends millions of naira to buy diesel and petrol for its generating plants.
The institution, with many equipment in its Engineering departments, as well as offices, hostels and staff houses, spends huge amount of money in fuelling its generators.
The chairman governing council of the institution, Alhaji Sani Bala Kangiwa, has renewed calls on the federal government to connect the town with electricity from the national grid to ease power problem and reduce the cost of running the polytechnic.
He told our reporter in an interview that the polytechnic spends huge amount of money in fuelling its generating plants as a result of lack of electricity supply from the national grid.
He stated that the institution has equipment in its workshops which require high voltage of electricity.
