Nigeria is running out of excuses. Food prices are rising faster than wages, farmers are being pushed off their lands by insecurity and climate shocks, and the nation continues to spend scarce foreign exchange importing what it has the natural capacity to produce. Yet, scattered across the country are massive public infrastructures built with taxpayers’ money, lying idle, forgotten, or underutilised. One of the most striking examples is Ikere George Dam in Iseyin, Oyo State.
Built in the early 1980s across the Ogun River, Ikere George Dam was conceived as a multi-purpose national asset. Its mandate was clear: provide potable water, support irrigation farming, enable fisheries, control floods, and stimulate agro-industrial development. More than four decades later, the dam stands largely dormant while Nigeria battles food insecurity and rural poverty. This contradiction should trouble any serious government.
The story of Ikere George Dam is not merely about Oyo State. It is a national mirror reflecting how Nigeria treats strategic infrastructure. At a time when the Federal Government is searching for pathways to food security and economic diversification under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the dam represents a low-hanging fruit that demands urgent attention.
Nigeria’s food crisis is no longer abstract. It is visible in markets, homes, and policy debates. The country depends heavily on rain-fed agriculture, leaving farmers vulnerable to erratic rainfall, droughts, and floods. Irrigation, which should be the backbone of modern agriculture, remains underdeveloped. According to available estimates, Nigeria irrigates only a fraction of its cultivable land, despite possessing abundant surface and underground water resources.
Ikere George Dam was designed to change this reality in its region and beyond. With proper rehabilitation and modern irrigation infrastructure, it can support thousands of hectares of year-round farming. Rice, maize, vegetables, and other staples could be produced consistently, reducing seasonal shortages and price volatility. Fisheries and aquaculture around the reservoir could improve protein availability and nutrition. Agro-processing activities could flourish, creating jobs and reducing post-harvest losses.
Instead, what we have today is a monument to missed opportunity.
The underutilisation of Ikere George Dam has consequences. Rural youth remain unemployed and migrate to cities in search of non-existent opportunities. Farmers rely on short farming seasons and suffer losses when rains fail. Communities around the dam, who should be beneficiaries of development, live alongside abundance they cannot access. Meanwhile, government budgets continue to stretch under the pressure of food importation and emergency interventions.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited a country facing hard choices. One of those choices is whether Nigeria will continue to chase new mega-projects while existing ones decay, or whether it will adopt a more pragmatic approach by optimising what already exists. Revitalising Ikere George Dam fits squarely into the second option, which is cheaper, faster, and more impactful.
Importantly, this is not a call for the Federal Government to shoulder everything alone. What is required is leadership and coordination. A federal takeover or co-management arrangement with Oyo State can unlock the process. A dedicated budgetary allocation under national irrigation or food security programmes can kick-start rehabilitation. A transparent public-private partnership framework can attract investors into commercial farming, aquaculture, and agro-processing. Host communities can be integrated through cooperatives and out-grower schemes, ensuring ownership and sustainability.
This is how nations turn infrastructure into productivity.
The Renewed Hope Agenda speaks of food security, job creation, economic diversification, and value-for-money governance. Ikere George Dam offers an opportunity to translate these words into measurable outcomes. Thousands of jobs can be created directly and indirectly. Rural incomes can rise. Pressure on urban centres can reduce. Food imports can decline. Confidence in government’s ability to deliver can improve.
There is also a climate dimension that cannot be ignored. Climate change is already reshaping Nigeria’s agricultural landscape. Floods destroy crops in one region while droughts cripple another. Properly managed dams and irrigation systems are essential tools for climate adaptation. Revitalising Ikere George Dam, with modern environmental safeguards, will strengthen resilience and protect livelihoods.
Critically, time is not on our side. Infrastructure deteriorates faster when abandoned. Each year of delay increases rehabilitation costs and reduces potential benefits. Nigeria cannot afford to keep valuable assets in limbo while citizens pay the price through hunger, unemployment, and inflation.
This is why Ikere George Dam should be elevated from a state-level concern to a national priority. It should feature in federal planning documents, budget speeches, and implementation dashboards. It should be treated as a pilot for how Nigeria can revive legacy infrastructure to solve present-day problems.
Mr President, leadership is often tested not by grand declarations but by practical decisions. Reviving Ikere George Dam may not grab headlines like a new mega-project, but its impact will be felt daily in markets, farms, and households. It will signal that your administration understands that development is not always about starting anew, but about finishing well.
Nigeria needs symbols of hope that deliver results. Ikere George Dam can be one of them.
Mr Kabiru Adeniyi ADISA, FCA, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria with over two decades of experience in financial management, manufacturing, and development finance. He is a development advocate focused on food security, infrastructure optimisation, and inclusive economic growth. He can be reached via: adisakabiru@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone:+2348057783260
