Jos, the Plateau State capital, is not in any way contiguous to Borno State. Both states are thousands of kilometres apart. But there is a socio-economic connection between them that dates back to pre-colonial era. That is the Lake Chad Basin located at the international border between Nigeria and Chad Republic.
The Lake Chad is a pool of water that finds its way to that location from several sources. There are about seven river tributaries that emptied into the Lake Chad through various channels. Of all these tributaries, the one that contributes the largest percentage of water to the Lake Chad is River Dilimi whose source is from Plateau State.
Dilimi River began from the rocky Jos terrains and meanders through several other states of the North-eastern Nigeria before getting to the Lake Chad Basin.
The river passes through Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Taraba, Yobe and Borno states before emptying into the Lake.
Dilimi River, no doubt, has been the major source of water supply to government and citizens of the states that are along its channels. Citizens of those states are mostly subsistent farmers and the river helps them immensely during their dry season farming activities.
Governments of these states use water from the river to create dams and reservoirs; treat and distribute it to their citizens to serve their water needs. The revenue generated from delivery of potable water by various state governments, is a major source of internal revenue for these states.
Ironically, as important as Dilimi River is to these Northeastern states, it is seemingly insignificant in value to Plateau State. Geographically, the source of a river is very narrow and shallow, but as it courses, the river expands in space, volume and speed.
Given these facts, Plateau State can only source water for its citizens from its abandoned mining dams and there is more than enough of such mining ponds scattered all over the state.
There is an enduring problem about Dilimi River, the states along its channels and the Lake Chad. The volume of water of the Lake Chad has been depleting for over a decade. The drying Lake Chad is a major source of concern to farmers and fishermen around the Lake. It is also a source of concern for the states and Federal Government, even as it is a source of concern to security agencies.
Apart from the problem of global warming, it has been discovered that some of the tributaries that supply water to the Lake Chad no longer do so, especially the Dilimi River which supplies 70 per cent of the water in the Lake Chad Basin.
It was further discovered that all the states that are along the channel of the River Dilimi may have blocked its free flow or diverted its course for their economic benefits.
The Director of Water Resources at the Plateau State Ministry of Water Resources and Energy, Mr Jonathan Mallang said: “Not less than 16 million Nigerians cutting across six states depend on the Dilimi River for survival. The river, which has its source from Jos, the Plateau State capital, flows through Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, and Yobe states before emptying into the Lake Chad located in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Continuing, he said: “Numerous villages found along this river channel had continued to derive maximum use of the river through farming and fishing activities that are practised there throughout the year. Nature must have provided the river to complement limited rainfall in those parts of the North.
“Hence, Nigerians in these areas took to farming and fishing as occupations. Governments of these states use the river as major source of water supply for domestic and industrial use. The Federal Government of Nigeria has developed millions of plots for agriculture around the Lake Chad. The Southern Irrigation Project owned by Nigerian government is the largest irrigation system in the Sub-Saharan Africa.
“However, all these advantages of the Dilimi River as well as the Lake Chad Basin diminished within the past 10 years because the river is no longer flowing causing the Lake Chad to seize to exist. The reason for this can only be attributed to human factors.
“Right from the source of the River Dilimi in Jos through to Maiduguri, indiscriminate and unhindered dumping of refuse which had continued for several decades has hampered the free flow of the river. This conscious or unconscious action of citizens of the five states that share the channels of this river not only reduced the flow of the river into the Lake Chad, it also eventually diverted the course of the river completely; changing the vegetation of the areas which hitherto makes the area conducive to human habitation.
“This diversion of River Dilimi from its course was discovered to be the major cause of recent flooding of some parts of the North, especially such witnessed in parts of Gombe State and parts of Jigawa State respectively. Farmers and fishers from these states have not only lost their source of income, they‘ve also migrated to neighbouring states where they could practice their occupation.
“Besides, uncountable number of homes has been flooded and farm lands washed away. Worst of all, the Lake Chad Basin eventually dried up. As a result, millions of hectares of land developed for irrigation faming by the Federal Government of Nigeria became a huge waste.
“So, the depletion of the Lake Chad has to do majorly with the blockage in the free flow of the river due to activities of farmers, fishermen and rivalry among state that share the river channels and not by the effects of Climate Change as we earlier suspected.
“When this problem was discovered a few years ago, the affected states came together as stakeholders with a resolve to tackle their common problem. Plateau, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Jigawa and Kano states came together to create a joint-fund called the ‘Hadeija, Jama’ are, Komadugu, Yobe Basin Trust Fund’
“Each of these states,” he said, “has a financial commitment to the fund with Plateau State contributing N100 million while the remaining five states contributes N150 million.
“When this trust fund was launched in 2006, former President Olusegun Obasanjo pledged N850 million on behalf of the Federal Government”
Mr Mallang, who is the Plateau State Collation Chairman for the integrated water resources management pointed out that concerned by development and its socio-economic implications on the country, the concerned states with the support of the Federal Government moved to salvage the situation in 2006.
“In 2006, the administration of President Obasanjo was said to have gone into partnership with the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom through the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Nigerian Conservation Foundation as well as the Lake Chad Basin Commission based in Njamena on how to salvage the Lake Chad.
“When this trust fund was launched, former President Obasanjo pledged N850 million on behalf of the Federal Government. This support was a boost to the efforts of the concerned states and the clearance of the Dilimi River commenced in earnest.
“The effort in clearing the river has resulted in the gradual return of water to the Lake Chad Basin in 2008 after lacking water for almost 10 years. Already, normal life is beginning to return to Lake Chad.
In 2008, it was learnt, the Plateau State government which serves as the source of the river had, on behalf of the trust fund, awarded the contract for the clearance of the source to improve the flow of the river to Haco Nigeria Limited. This final phase of the revival of the Lake Chad is expected to accelerate flow of the river.
The contract involves the removal of the waste which will be dumped in a land field identified by the Plateau State Ministry of Environment. Walls will then be built at the river bank to ensure it does not flood people’s houses and farms.
By so doing, the beauty of the area will be sustained since people no longer dump refuse there.
The government of Bauchi State constructed a dike (fence) to prevent the river from flooding as well as preventing indiscriminate dumping of refuge in the river channels by citizens. Kano State government constructed the Tigard Dam to regulate the release of water along the channels. Currently, there is a level of understanding between Kano and Jigawa states in ensuring that the river flows freely along their own channels. Jigawa State government, on its own, came up with a programme through which they empower non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for the mobilisation of communities to assist in clearing any blockage on the river channels. Yobe State is also not left out in the battle. So, it is a collective problem that is attracting collective efforts aimed at resuscitating the Lake Chad.
Further efforts are said to be made by the Lake Chad Basin Commission through the Global Environmental Facilities (GEF) in seeking possible way of transferring water from the Congo Basin to the Lake Chad. The inter-basin water transfer is also expected to improve restoration of water to the Lake Chad.
