Nigeria: Despite Hosting Gurara Dam, Kaduna Community Battles Darkness, Water Scarcity - Official

What the report says

Residents of communities hosting the Gurara Dam in Kaduna State are still living without electricity and reliable potable water, according to comments by Kachia Local Government Chairman Dr. Manzo Maigari at a North Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (NHYPPADEC) stakeholders’ meeting in Kaduna. The account, published by Daily Trust and distributed by AllAfrica, says Maigari argued that the host area bears environmental and security costs while the dam’s water serves the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the situation has become more difficult because the dam area has also been linked to insecurity, displacement and a decline in farming in Kachia and nearby Kagarko Local Government Area. Maigari said criminal activity has grown around the water source and that violence has forced many people from their homes, leaving camps overcrowded and agricultural livelihoods disrupted.

Maigari urged NHYPPADEC and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to connect host communities to electricity and potable water before the refurbished Gurara hydroelectric plant begins full evacuation to the national grid. NHYPPADEC’s managing director, Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, responded that the commission remains committed to addressing ecological and socio-economic problems in hydroelectric power-producing areas. The report highlights a recurring concern in infrastructure projects: nearby communities may not benefit directly from large facilities that affect their land and security.