By DADA AYOKHAI
The Iyora community in Uzairue clan in Etsako west local government area may formally forward a petition to the federal government to complain about the naming of Dam situated in the community after Jattu.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed recently said it has approved the construction of Jattu dam which is meant to provide potable water for Edo North senatoral district and also enhance all year farming in the district.
Alhaji Mohammed added that the Ministry of Water Resources got the nod of the FEC to award the contract for the construction of the dam.
He further explained that the Edo State government has made a firm commitment to the project’s success by agreeing to underwrite twenty-five percent of the N8bn contract sum, which translates to N2bn.
However, the Iyora people felt the federal government should not have named the dam to be constructed in it’s domain after Jattu, a neighbouring community
Much as the Iyora people see the dam gesture as a rare gift to the Edo senatorial district and also a thing of joy, after many years of acute water shortages in the area, they were, however, taken aback by the naming of the dam after Jattu.
: Benin- Owena River Basin Development Authority, BORDA, a federal agency under the water resources ministry had carried out some preliminary work on the Ogio river in the Iyora community, including desilting, clearing the banks of the river as well as the payment of compensation for farm crops destroyed, all in anticipation of when the FEC approval will be secured
The BORDA is headed by Engr Saliu Ahmed, a man who has done a great job for the entire Edo North district .
The agency Under his watch, the tentacles of the BORDA, as a water resources management and interventionist agency, have spread to the nook and cranny of the district
Many of those who spoke on the condition of anonymity said their major grouse with the federal gesture is not the project itself but the decision to name the project after Jattu.
They contended that Jattu does not have a river that can be dammed
In addition, they said they were embarrassed on hearing the mention of the name Jattu about a project that is located in their domain, adding further that the entire community has resolved to immediately despatch a strongly worded protest letter to the relevant authorities seeking a reversal of what they considered as an error in name.
