The need for synergy between Federal Government Agencies handling projects in different states and the states where those projects are executed has been stressed.
The State Coordinator, National Planning Commission, Dr. Nazif Abdallahi Darama, who stated this while inspecting projects being executed by the Federal Government in Delta State, said that a situation where projects were executed in a state without the knowledge of the host government was unproductive, saying that it would give room for abandoned projects.
Dr. Darama said that millions of naira was spent by the federal government in the execution of projects across the country but regretted that because the states were not usually aware, the projects suffered setbacks and most of the time were not completed and were completed were not protected.
He said that the tripartite team comprising the National Planning Commission, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Federal Ministry Water Resources and Rural Development, had been mandated to undertake a comprehensive inspection of irrigation and other related projects across the 36 states of the country.
The Coordinator said that the objective of the inspection was to do a holistic review of projects being executed by federal government agencies, amount required to complete such projects, amount spent so far and expected date of completion.
Dr. Darama stated that from what was on ground, it was better to provide enough resources to complete projects instead of allowing them to linger for a long time, saying that such time lag would destroy what had already been put in place.
At the Ogwashi- Uku Dam Project, the representative of the Managing Director of Benin/Owina River Basin Authority, Engineer Charles Owino said that the project was awarded in 2006 to Nelson Benjamin Nigeria Limited for a total sum of N440m (Four Hundred and Forty Million Naira), adding that work started the same year just as he said that they discovered two different formations from the initial survey carried out by a different Company.
He said that the hydrology and the formation of the foundation where the dam was sited was different, stressing that this gave room for the present review which was approved in December 2011 for a total cost of 3.6 billion with two years completion period.
Engineer Owino said that the project which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources was for water supply, adding that the review included one megawatt hydro generation with 400 million cubic meters of water to drive the turbine.
Commenting on the project, the leader of the team, Dr. Darama urged them to liaise with the Delta State Ministry of Water Resources for better coordination, emphasising that the state had a part to play to ensure early completion of projects.
He regretted that non consultation with the host states in the past had led to abandoned projects and misdirection, saying that the advice of the host States was not sought.
At the Koko irrigation project, the Managing Director, Niger Delta Basin Development Authority, Chief Matthew Aleru said that the irrigation project was designed to provide water to make the plane arable throughout the year.
Chief Aleru said that the pilot project was meant for 50 hectares of land for irrigation/drainage, provision of bore hole and overhead tank with a total cost of N172m (One Hundred and Seventy Two Million Naira)
The leader of the team, Dr. Darama regretted that millions of naira wew spent by the Federal Government on irrigation across the States without the States being aware of such projects and stressed that to achieve the desired goals, the States must be carried along.
Dr. Darama, urged the authority in charge of Koko project to as a matter of urgency liaise with the Delta State Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources Development to avoid projects lying waste.
In his short comment, the Delta State Commissioner for Water Resources Development, Dr. Christ Oghenechovwen, regretted that federal government’s projects running into millions of naira were abandoned as a result of lack of synergy between the Federal agencies and the state government.
Dr. Oghenechovwen who expressed surprise that projects on irrigation were going on without the knowledge of relevant ministries in the state was not healthy and commended the visiting team for the initiative just as he gave the assurance that the State would cooperate to ensure that the projects were completed on record time for the benefit of the people.
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