Nigeria confirms secure water supply by constructing 20 dams by 2023

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources constructed nine new dams between 2016 to 2020 in Nigeria said the ministry, according to a report by Premium Times.

Danjuma Madaki, the director of Dams and Reservoir Operations in the ministry said that it has completed nine new dams and 11 more dams are under construction which would be completed before 2023, at the second edition of Media Water Week earlier on Tuesday.

Madaki said that the construction of dams has created over 20,400 direct and 16,000 indirect jobs in the country. He claimed that the completion of these dams will grow tourism, food security, power generation, and water supply in the country. It will also keep a check on floods, he added.

He also urged the people to avoid dumping garbage in the dams since the dams were constructed for potable water accessible in the country.

As many dams and irrigation constructions are not taken care of properly, John Ochigbo, the director of River Basin Operations and Inspectorate drew attention to poorly managed water infrastructures.

While speaking at the event, Timothy Ayodeji, a retired Director of Information from the Ministry praised the Ministry's idea of organizing Media Water Week. He said, "relationships between media organisations and governments can be mutually benefitting especially when the interests of the journalist and the public are alike".