THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ZOBE DAM ON ITS NEIGHBOURING ENVIRONMENT
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the socioeconomic effects of Zobe Dam on the area around it. The construction of the dam has altered farming practices, people’s standard of living, and the region’s potential for overall development, according to specific objectives. The issue is that the area’s farming practices have changed as a result of the dam’s construction. In the Dutsin-ma Local Government Area, the proposed hypotheses (Ho) that there is no relationship between Zobe Dam and socioeconomic activities that have occurred around the dam site and (Hi) that there is relationship between Zobe Dam and such activities have been put to the test.
According to the findings of the hypothesis testing, there is a connection between the Zobe Dam and the nearby socioeconomic activities. As a result, it was determined that the dam has a significant impact on the socioeconomic activities of local residents near the study area.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
Every society, whether rural or urban, has a dominant economic activity that a sizable portion of the population participates in. The Zobe Dam and its socioeconomic effects on the locals are the main subjects of this study. A dam is a structure that holds back water or underground streams so that it can be used for human needs (Monk house et al, 1973). Resources behind dams are man-made water bodies, according to Lawson (1972), and are crucial for water resource development initiatives.
Dams can be constructed for one use or several. Dams intended for a single use, such as the production of hydroelectric power, are built. Dams built for multiple or multiple purposes are constructed to provide water for a variety of uses, including water supply for municipal and industrial
uses, production of livestock and fishing, etc (Norman 1976).
The building of dams or dam projects dates back many centuries. Starting in present-day Egypt and Iraq, respectively, on the Nile and Tigris. The majority of our dams in Nigeria serve multiple purposes, including the 1968-built Kainji dam, the Tiga dam in Kano, the Bakalori dam in Zamfara, the Goronyo dam in Sokoto, and the Zobe Dam in Katsina state (Norman 1976).
Man has used dams since well before the emergence of Christianity. The idea of ancient river valley civilization has been widely accepted for many years, and five important valley societies are well known, including China’s Yellow River Valley, India’s Indus Valley, and Egypt’s Nile Valley (Oliver, 1976).
As stated by According to Oliver (1971), building a dam is expensive. They can be used for hydropower, better navigation, irrigation water, and the establishment of recreational facilities in addition to flood control. Large dams are not only expensive, but they also have other drawbacks. Thousands of acres of productive farmland may be updated by the reservoir that develops behind the dam. Another drawback of dams is that they have a negative impact on people’s health because the water encourages the growth of mosquitoes that spread malaria and tiny black flies that serve as hosts for worms that can burrow into people’s bloodstream and cause river blindness (Oliver, 1971).