Agriculture Minister Laments 35 Years Neglect
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on Tuesday, lamented at a town hall meeting in Ibadan over the 35 years neglect of the multi-purpose Ikere-Gorge Dam in Iseyin, Oyo State.
He said that the dam has the potentials for irrigation farming, generation of electricity, water supply and tourism.
Ogbeh, a Minister of Communications between 1982 and 1983, recalled he had visited the dam in 1982.
“I remember that we visited the dam in 1982 and brought the required turbines to complete the project.
“I almost wept yesterday (Monday) when I visited the dam in Iseyin and met the turbines lying fallow at the dam without being fixed.
“It is very sad to know the dam has been idle since 1982. This is how we have been wasting our various resources that landed us in the present economic woes,’’ he said.
He said the dam could serve multi-purpose functions of fishery, irrigation, water supply and electricity generation, with a capacity for seven megawatts.
