Date: 2022-01-16

The federal government has commissioned the 1.8 million cubic metres Okuta Dam in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The project which will serve over 100 hectares was initiated and completed by the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA).

Commissioning the project at the weekend, the Minister of Water Resources, Engineer Suleiman Adamu, said the dam brought to 260 the federal government has constructed across the country.

He added that 34 billion cubic metres of bulk water in dam reservoirs had been impounded for agriculture and other multi-purpose uses.

According to him, despite government's effort to improve potable water supply to Nigerians, national access to water supply is only about 70 per cent; which is below the SDGs target of 100 per cent by year 2030.

Represented by the Director, River Basins Operations and Inspectorate of the ministry, Mr John Ochigbo, the minister described the Okuta dam as a "critical national asset".

He urged the people of Okuta community who are predominantly farmers to take advantage of the dam to boost all-year farming production.

The Managing Director (MD) of LNRBDA, Dr Adeniyi Saheed Aremu, said the project was initiated in 2018 to boost agricultural production and other purposes.

The Emir of Okuta, Alhaji Abubakar Sero Idris, expressed delight that the dam would go down in history as the first ever federal government project to be commissioned in the town.

He assured that the community was willing to make available more land for development.