By Bello Ahmadu Alkammawa
From the capital city of Kaduna State to Matari Village in Soba Local Government is one hour journey. I visit the village in order to see for myself how a famous source of revenue was abandoned for years without revisiting its rehabilitations despite its enormous contributions to the state and the country at large.
Apart from providing portable drinking water to the Zaria axis, the dam also boosts food production through irrigation farming engaging hundred thousand youth in the area and other local governments in the state into fishing as well as cash crops farming. The genesis behind the abandonment of the dam according to the investigation carried out by this writer has to do with politics and selfishness of some people that hold key positions in past administrations despite concrete efforts put in place by good sons and daughters of the area to return the dam to the limelight. Only last year Federal Government shows its interest in the gigantic project, yet it was not completed.
With the coming on board of an energetic and workaholic senator, whose track records cut across the country, who carve a niche for himself in his days at the Nigerian Senate by becoming one of the ‘FIVE BEST SENATORS OF NIGERIA’ now the elected Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani coupled with his desire and good dream of bringing government close to the people by boosting and empowerment of rural dwellers through projects and initiatives that can boost the Internal Revenue Generation to the state for the executions of projects that have direct bearing to the people, I am sure sooner than later the dam will be back on its track with all modern facilities that can support it to champion the cause of establishing it.
The dam when it was turned into lime lights will provide jobs to the teeming youth of the area who due to its damage or non-completion had become thugs to politicians wreaking havoc in society. Before the breakage, those youth were engaged in various irrigation activities that are boosting food production of both cash crops such as Cotton, G/nuts, Shea nut, Rice, Wheat, Yam, Cassava, Potatoes, Maize, Tomatoes, Sorghum and fish that is very abundant in both in the wet and dry seasons.
Most of the people who fielded questions on the dam from this writer expressed their anger on why the state abandoned this important project. They regretted its completion will not only going to boost food production, and jobs but will boost sound revenue generation that will support the present administration in its journey of taking its citizens to a greater height through physical transformation projects, that can ginger development across the state. According to a farmer, Malam Ado Yakassai who depended solidly on the dam for a living appealed to Governor Sani to come to their aid by making sure the dam comes back to limelights with all facilities that can support it to contribute its quota to the development of the state.
Alkammawa writes from Kaduna Nigeria, 07030399110 08155092812
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