The Gusau Dam holds a reservoir on the

Sokoto River The Sokoto River (formerly known as Gulbi 'n Kebbi) is a river in north-west Nigeria and a tributary of the River Niger. The river's source is near Funtua in the south of Katsina State, some in a straight line from Sokoto. It flows north-west pas ...

just upstream from

Gusau The city of Gusau, located in northwestern Nigeria, is the capital of Zamfara State. It is also the name of the state's Local Government Area (LGA), which has an area of ² and a population of 383,162 as of the 2006 census. The area's postal ...

, capital of Zamfara State in Nigeria. It supplies water to the city and neighboring communities. In 2006, the dam collapsed, killing 40 people and destroying 500 homes.

Dam capacity

The dam was insufficient to meet local needs in times of drought. In January 2001 the Zamfara State Governor,

Ahmed Sani Yerima Ahmed Rufai Sani Yerima (born 22 July 1960) is a Nigerian politician who was Governor of Zamfara State from May 1999 to May 2007, and served as Senator for Zamfara West and Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate. He is a member of the All Progress ...

met the federal minister of Water Resources, Mohammed Bello Kaliel and told him that Gusau Dam could dry up soon, asking the Federal Government to transfer water from the

Bakolori Dam The Bakolori Dam is in Sokoto State in northwest Nigeria. It was completed in 1978 and its reservoir filled by 1981. It is a major reservoir on the Sokoto River, a tributary of the Rima River, which in turn feeds the Niger River. Water from the da ...

. Kaliel said the Federal Government was committed to provide quality water to all Nigerians and would soon provide assistance to the states, with priority given to Gusau. In June 2002, two groups in Zamfara State petitioned the

Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), (in full the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission) is a Nigerian agency that was inaugurated on 29 September 2000 following the recommendation of President Oluseg ...

(ICPC), alleging that Ahmed Sani Yerima had mismanaged and misappropriated Federal funds. The state government had made claims for improvement, dredging and repairs of a collapsed portion of the Gusau barrage at the cost of N14.2 million, resuscitation of the Barrage at N92million and de-siting of the Gusau Dam Barrage at N1.8 million. However, nothing appreciable had been done.

2006 collapse

A disaster occurred on Saturday, September 30, 2006, when the dam collapsed after heavy flooding. 40 people were killed and approximately 500 homes were destroyed, displacing 1,000 people. It occurred after the heaviest downpour ever recorded in the area, which had fallen for the previous two days. In addition to lost and damaged houses, large amounts of farmland that was almost due to be harvested was devastated and hundreds of livestock were killed. As well as the dam, a bridge linking the city to the northern part of Zamfara State was destroyed. Around 700 people were temporarily sheltered in a nearby secondary school in Birnin Ruwa area, where assistance was provided by the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. Drinking water wells were polluted by the floodwater. The accident occurred after sluice gates failed to function, causing the water to overwhelm the dam, says the operator, the Zamfara Water Board. After the dam collapse, many residents had to resort to stream water. Water vendors more than doubled their price, selling a 25-litre Jerry can for N50 compared to N20 before.

Later developments

In March 2007, the Federal government released NN2.4 billion for the rehabilitation of the Gusau dam. In May 2007 the Zamfara state government said they were giving top priority to ensuring that water was retained in the dam, rehabilitating the water treatment plant, introducing modern equipment at the pumping stations, and developing the distribution network. In January 2010, a Zamfara-based group called Concerned Citizens petitioned the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...

(EFCC) to investigate the former Governor of Zamfara state, Ahmad Sani Yarima, for mismanagement of funds, including an N1 billion loan for Gusau dam repairs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gusau Dam Gusau dam collapse Gusau dam collapse Man-made disasters in Nigeria Dam failures Dams in Nigeria Zamfara State