Dam Politics in Northern Nigeria: The Case of the Kafin Zaki Dam Kole Ahmed Shettima Abstract ment les populations et perturbe pro- has 20,000 square kilometres and joins fondhmt le processus tcologique. the Hadejia near Gashua to form the Considerable political contention has Hadejia-Jama'are. The River Hadejia- developed over the dams and large-scale Introduction Jama'are meets the Kumadugu Gana irrigation schemes in northern Nigeria. Large scale irrigation schemes and near Geidam to form the Kumadugu The reasons are the resettlement of peo- dams dot the landscape of northern Yobe (NEAZDP 1990,9). ple that they require as well as their en- Nigeria. There are criticisms of these Nearly all of northern Nigeria is an vironmental effects, their economic projects, funded in the 1970s. Problems ecologically sensitive zone. Desert ex- inefficiency and other social conse- identified include economic ineffi- pansion is the most serious environ- quences. This article discusses these is- ciency, class-bias, health hazards and mental hazard. In recent years as much sues with reference specijically to the environmental effects (Watts 1987). as 38 percent of the land is lost to deser- Kafin Zaki Dam proposal, challeniging However, the issue of resistance to irri- tification, and about 30 million people the conventional image of an alignment gation and dam projects and especially have been affected. The rate of deserti- of international organizations and de the role of factions of international fication can be as high as 35 kilometres mestic elites on one side and grassroots agencies and some parts of the state per year. In the 1972-73 drought alone, forces on the other. The conclusion is has not been explored in this regard. cattle mortality was at 20 percent. that the political contest is carried out Indeed, most of the literature on irriga- These ecological shifts are due to cli- essentially at the elite level and that tion schemes in northern Nigeria has matic changes, population increase state and international agencies at only focused on the negative roles of and livestock pressure. According to times do oppose mega-projects that dis- international and national agencies the World Bank (1990,17), human ac- place peopleand disrupt ecologicalproc- (ibid., 1987). tivities rather than climatic changes are esses. There are many examples of inter- the most sigruficant causes of environ- national agencies, multilateral and bi- mental variation. They include bush lateral, playing negative roles of burning, human population move- Des dtdltspolitiques considkrables se environmental destruction. However, ment, overgrazing and the increased sont dheloppts autour de la question in the case of the Kafin Zaki Dam use of mechanical methods of land des barrages et de I'irrigation h grande project in the Yobe Basin, these agen- clearing. Apart from these factors, tchelle au Nord-Nigeria. Les raisons en cies worked together to successfully to major causes of environmental stress sont: les relocalisations de populations stop construction, in conjunction with are engineering and agronomic biases que ces projets entrainent, leur impact some parts of the Nigerian state and of water resource development and sur l'environnement, leur ineficacitt Nigerian organisations. This case management (Gadzama 1991,9). tconornique, ainsi qu'une kyrielle study questions the assumption of Ecological realities coupled with re- d'autres constquences sociales. Le prC- monolithic states, governments and gional politics, "developmentalism," sent article aborde ces questions en se international agencies prevalent in nationalism and the oil boom have rifkrant sptcifiquemen t au cas du projet much of the development studies lit- been invoked to make a case for dam de barrage du Kafin Zaki, et remet en erature. reservoirs in northern Nigeria. The question la conception conventionnelle construction of water reservoirs are The Geography and Ecology of the d'unface hface sur cette question entre meant for urban water supply and les organisations internationales et les Yobe Basin large scale irrigation projects. In the elites locales d'un c6tt et les forces du The Kumadugu River's Yobe Basin is Yobe Basin, there are twenty-two terroir de l'autre. La conclusion est plp- located in the northeast of northern dams existing, under construction and t6t que le conflit politique se livre prin- Nigeria and covers about 9 percent of proposed with a catchment area of cipalement au niveau klitaire, et que les the country's land. Kumadugu Yobe 31,303 square kilometres (NEAZDP agences nationales et internationales en has a catchment area of about 85,000 1990,16). Traditionally, surface water, mennent avec le temps h s'opposer h ce square kilometres. Its three main tribu- wells and small dams have been used type de mgaprojet qui delace massive- taries are the River Hadejia, the River for urban water supply. Similarly, Jama'are and the Kumadugu Gana. flooding, shadoof (a suspended pole Kole Ahmed Shettima is Adjunct Professor of The Hadejia has the largest catchment with a bucket at one end and a weight Political Science, Department of Political area of 30,000 square kilometres at the at the other), wells, calabash, and other Science, University of Toronto, Toronto. western end of the basin, the Jama'are hand-held-bailer irrigation methods - -- I, Rq#kge, VoL 16, No. 3 (August 1997) The Upper Komadougou-Yobe Basin .\- .\- RIVER ( C A FORMAL I ~RR~GA~ION SCHEME Source: Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands Conservation Project and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Workshop on the Management ofthe Water Resources ofthe Komadugu-Yobe Basin, Kuru, 1st-2nd April 1993 (Kuru: National Institute Press, 1993), 35. have been used in agriculture. Later, The Kafin Zaki Dam Proposal NEAZDP 1990). The 1972-74 drought diesel-driven pumps and tube wells in the Sahel was the proximate impe- were introduced for the purpose of The damming of the river systems in tus for the project. But it was only dur- small-scale irrigation. northern Nigeria has instigated de- ing the Shagari regime (1979433)that a There are three major dams in the bates on the merits and demerits of contract was awarded for the project to upstream region of the Yobe Basin. such projects. A case in point is the Julius Berger, a German construction These include Tiga, Challawa and Kafin Zaki Dam. On the one hand, a company. In 1984, the Buhari regime Bagauda. All these dams are around disparate interest group has been dog- (1984-85) terminated the contract as Kano. They provide water to the city of gedly championing the cause of the part of its budgetary control measure, Kano and the Kano Irrigation Project project. On the other hand, aloose stra- but that decision was reversed in De- Phase 1. The biggest of the dams is Tiga tegic alliance of various institutions, cember 1992 by the Babangida regime which was constructed 1971-74 individuals and organisations, foreign (1985-93). The latter requested Julius (NEAZDP 1990,16). River regulation and domestic, successfully lobbied Berger to continue the project at a cost has potential beneficial effects of re- against the construction of the Kafin of N10 billion.' It was expected that on ducing harmful flooding of agricul- Zaki Dam. I shall name and discuss the completion of the project an area of tural land downstream, but could have groups in the debate on the merits and &4,000 hectares would be irrigated. In the negative effects of undermining demerits of damming in the Yobe Ba- 1994, the Abacha regime (1993- flooding of the large fadama (flood sin, and the strategies and arguments present) terminated the contract and plain) on which millions of people de- invoked. later appointed a judicial commission pend for traditional agriculture and The Kafin Zaki Dam has an intellec- of inquiry under Justice Sanusi Ciroma irrigation, livestock grazing, and the tual origin in the Schultz report funded Yusuf. The Commission was man- recharging of the aquifers. Social con- by the Canadian International Devel- dated to look into the origin and scope flicts due to loss of livelihood and the opment Agency and an earlier study of the project, the manner and worth of threat of displacement are some of the funded by the United States Agency its contract, as well as the role of staff in consequences. for International Development the Ministry of Water Resources and (HNWCP and NIPSS 1993, 19; Rejkge, Vol. 16, No. 3 (August 1997) --- - - - -. -- .- I Rural Development (New Nigerian benefits of the project. The problem, tection of Birds, the Nigerian Conser- April 8,1993). according to the government, is vation Union, the Finnish Association Support for the Kafin Zaki Darn drought and not irrigation schemes. for Nature Conservation and the This conclusion was reached despite World Conservation Union. The The argument in support of the dam is the fact that the Ministry has not car- World Bank is also funding a small led by a powerful interest group. The ried out environmental impact sur- fadama (flood plain) irrigation project Schultz report intellectually rational- veys. Dubious figures are officially which covers some of the area in the ises the need for the project while used to minimise the impact of the Yobe Basin that could be negatively JuIius Berger, the most important con- projects on the downstream users, e.g. affected by the Kafin Zaki Dam. The struction company in Nigeria, lobbies that the Kafin Zaki Dam is only 10.6 Dam restricts the water that would in its support. Most of the important percent of the catchment area of the have been used for small-scale irriga- constructions in Abuja, the new fed- Yobe Basin. Furthermore, faith is tion projects. The FEPA is the environ- eral capital, are executed by the cam- placed in technology: better utilisation mental watchdog of the government.