Residents of Taraba have commended the
Federal Government for approving 5 billion
dollars for the building of a Hydro Power Plant
in Mambilla.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the
project was approved at the Federal Executive
Council meeting on Wednesday, August 30.
The project, which was initiated in 1972, has a
targeted capacity to generate 3,050
megawatts, using rivers located in Donga and
Gembu.
Taraba residents, who expressed happiness
that the project had been approved after 45
years, told NAN in Jalingo that it would usher
in massive development to the area and
Taraba State.
Ali Adamu, a journalist, said that the approval
was a dream come true, adding that it would
rejuvenate economic activities and create jobs
in the area.
Adamu said:  “It is a multi-billion dollar project
which is expected to last for six years; massive
labour will be required and that will create jobs
for the people.
“There will also be massive infrastructural
development as heavy equipment will be
moved in; that should be good news to hotels
and eateries. It also means that security must
be upgraded to meet challenges.”
He also urged people in the area to reciprocate
the gesture by cooperating with government at
all levels and living in peace with one another,
so as to benefit from the project.
Livinus Ayih, a lecturer with Taraba State
University, Jalingo, also commended the
approval of the project.
He, however, expressed concern that
successive regimes, since 1999, had mobilised
various contractors to the site, only for them to
disappear after sometime, leaving the job
undone.
Ayih said he was confident that the present
administration would execute the project
effectively.
He said that the people of Mambilla were ready
and willing to even relocate from their
settlements, to pave way for the full take-off of
the project.
Alhaji Hassan Ardo, Nigeria’s Ambassador to
Trinidad and Tobago, who also spoke on the
project, said that it was the first time that the
Federal Government had shown a genuine
commitment to the project by approving it,
after 40 years.
The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism,
James Gani, on his part, said that the project
would boost tourism and electricity supply in
the state.
Gani said: “I think it is a very exciting
development. We believe it will create job
opportunities, especially in the tourism sector.
“It will provide roads, electricity and more
patronage to hotel owners.
“The plant itself is a tourist attraction. We are
all very happy over the project.”
Senator Abubakar Yusuf, who represents
Taraba Central, said that the project was a
dream come true for the people of the Mambilla
Plateau, Taraba State and Nigeria.
Yusuf called on residents of the Mambilla
Plateau to put aside the recent crisis and unite
in supporting government to execute the
project to fruition, and commended President
Muhammadu Buhari for the bold step.
He also commended the National Assembly,
Governor Darius Ishaku and many others who
contributed in one way or the other toward
ensuring the approval of the project.
The Senior Special Assistant (Media and
Publicity) to Governor Darius Ishaku, Emmanuel
Bello, said that the project would improve the
living conditions of people on the Mambilla
Plateau.
He called on the people to cooperate with the
construction workers, and expressed
government’s readiness to support the project
“in any way necessary”.