By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Managing Director (MD) of the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa, has said that the Federal Government needs over $20 billion, which is equivalent to N9.2 trillion, in order to clean up the Niger, Benue, and Kaduna Rivers.
Yelwa stated this at the Commission’s 2023 stakeholder meeting, which was centered on flood mitigation and other related issues.
He said that the motive behind the dredging of the rivers during this rainy season was to check the continuous flooding that takes place in the affected areas.
According to him, the clamour by Nigerians for the dredging of the affected rivers would be a difficult task for the government to handle without the intervention of international donor agencies, and that the estimated cost for the dredging of the rivers as at 1983, when the Federal Government asked for the price was $2 billion, which is currently equivalent to N924 billion.
Yelwa expressed that the cost had massively gone up by over ten times and the funding of the project is currently beyond the Commission and the Nigerian Government.
However, he said that they are working towards mobilizing international donor agencies for funding interventions.
The MD further stated that the Commission would embark on an afforestation programme in order to reduce flooding in 2023, adding that trees would be planted on five hectares of land in each of the five affected Local Government Areas (LGAs).