By Segun Adewale, Bauchi
The North East Stakeholders Forum for Sustainable Development (NESFSD) has commended the Managing Director of National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPHADEC), Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, for his several intervention to its catchment communities in Gombe and Taraba States in the region, particularly through its tailored approaches to addressing local needs.
National Chairman of the NESFSD, Alhaji Murtala Sule Jalingo and the Secretary General of the Forum Comrade Danladi Bawa Gombe made the commendation while briefing Journalists on Thursday at Whitehill Hotel in Bauchi.
According to them, it’s commendable the way the N-HYPPADEC, intensified efforts to improve the welfare and livelihoods of host communities in Gombe and Taraba State, because the efforts brought ease and hope to the host communities,especially the series of engagements and interventions and the recent visit of the Managing Director to the newly admitted member States in the region by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who were admitted in June 2023.
Murtala Jalingo commended the commission’s effort to mitigate ecological damage arising from hydroelectric power operations and to promote sustainable development in host communities.
The Forum Chairman listed several interventions carried out by the commission under the Managing Director Yelwa in Gombe State that included the supply of 1,100 life jackets, the provision of an operational flying boat to Kupto Community, installation of solar streetlights, construction of solar-powered boreholes, desilting of drainages, construction of classrooms, and support for indigent students through the payment of National Examination Council, NECO, fees.
He praised the Commission for living up to the objectives of its establishment, noting that unlike many organisations that focus largely on internal development,
N–HYPPADEC prioritised interventions that directly impact people’s daily lives.
Murtala Jalingo expressed happiness with the promised made by the Managing Director of delivery of a 33-seater boat, safety facilities, describing N-HYPPADEC as the headquarters of rural development in Nigeria, citing the scale and impact of its interventions across communities.
He commended the projects executed in Nafada and ranked N-HYPPADEC first, second and third on the scale of productivity among development agencies operating in the area.
The Secretary of the Forum comrade Danladi Bawa Gombe Commended the commission for its effort to tackle environmental and socio-economic challenges in power-producing communities.
He said “We are happy with the visit because the Managing Director is a technocracy he easily recognised the long-standing environmental and social burdens borne by communities hosting hydroelectric facilities and the commission is committed in addressing ecological degradation, flooding, erosion, displacement, and livelihood disruptions associated with hydroelectric dam operations, while promoting sustainable development in affected areas.
Danladi said the forum are happy that Since 2024, N-HYPPADEC executed several projects in Taraba, including the establishment of a state office in Jalingo, installation of 34 solar-powered streetlights in riverine communities and the state capital, and construction of 15 solar-powered boreholes to improve access to clean water”.
The Stakeholders said Taraba State benefitted with other interventions that included the distribution of 32 power tiller machines to farming cooperatives, provision of two flying boats along the Lau–Karim Lamido and Ibi–Wukari axes to enhance emergency response and mobility, and desilting of blocked drainages and culverts covering about 40,000 linear metres across several local government areas to mitigate flooding, and the Commission supplied and installed transformers in parts of Jalingo and supported education by paying NECO external examination fees for students from power-producing communities.
They commended the Managing Director for making pledged to to deploy two water buses to improve transportation for residents of riverine communities in Taraba State.
The Forum assured the managing director of the continued support of the People of Gombe and Taraba States and appeal to the Managing Director to include all the remaining local Governments in Gombe and Taraba States in its laudable interventions.
