An aerial drone photo taken on May 2, 2026 shows the Lagdo Dam in Lagdo, North region of Cameroon. (Xinhua/Wang Ze)
by Arison Tamfu, Wang Ze
YAOUNDE, May 12 (Xinhua) -- To the world, the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon's North region is a feat of 1970s engineering, a veritable testament to Cameroon-China relations.
To Oumarou Bakary, it is the structure upon which his entire life was built.
In the early 1970s, the dusty streets of Garoua, capital of the North region, offered little hope to Bakary, who felt the weight of a stagnant economy and the relentless heat of the Sahel, where life was a cycle of waiting for rain that often came too late or left too soon.
In Lagdo, located about 55 km south of Garoua, Chinese engineers had arrived and set up camp to build a dam over the Benue River.
Bakary didn't hesitate to head to Lagdo to get a job. He packed his bag, trading the familiar streets of Garoua for a dusty ride toward a project that would redefine the northern parts of Cameroon.
While there, he was hired as part of a local team working alongside Chinese engineers.
"There were 800 Chinese workers and 2,500 Cameroonian workers," Bakary recalled.
Initially, he was assigned to the survey team, tasked with assisting the Chinese surveyors who were mapping the 308-meter span of the dam.
"At the start it was a strange experience, but I learned well," Bakary said.
As the project transitioned into heavy construction, he was pulled from the field into the mechanical and electrical workshop.
It was here that he encountered the lathe.
Under the guidance of Chinese foremen, he fully participated in the construction of the dam, gaining a technical discipline that traditional schools in the North region didn't offer at the time.
"We worked night and day. The Chinese didn't rest. The Chinese don't mess around when it comes to work," he said. "The Chinese don't like mistakes."
"With the Chinese, you have to be perfect," Bakary said.
As the construction drew to a close, many local workers prepared to return to their villages, but Bakary stayed on.
His Chinese mentors knew his value. They formally recommended him to the National Electricity Company of Cameroon, and he was recruited as one of the first permanent Cameroonian technicians to manage the newly finished Lagdo power station.
"During (the survey and) the construction of the dam, I worked from 1974 to 1984. At the completion of the dam, I was hired to work for the Cameroon electricity company from 1984 to 2017," Bakary said.
He never moved back to Garoua.
Bakary, 69, is now a grandfather with 12 grandchildren in Lagdo, where his house, made of sun-dried mud, hums with the steady rhythm of a refrigerator and the soft glow of a television -- luxuries that were fantasies when he first picked up a shovel.
"My house is lit by a steady bulb powered by the 72-megawatt plant I helped birth," he said.
For generations, the villagers of Lagdo had lived in difficulties and poverty, but their lives changed completely after the dam turned the bush village into a bustling town, said Amina Mohammed Sani.
"Now, I'm elated because the roads are smooth and the schools are also good. We have electricity and a hospital. My grandchildren study well," Amina said in her local language, as translated by her son, Buhari Ahmed. She didn't remember her exact age but looked to be in her early 80s.
"The Chinese brought us life and joy," said the grandmother of over 100 grandchildren.
The 40-meter-high concrete Lagdo Dam, China's first hydropower project in Cameroon, provides irrigation and supplies hydroelectric power to three regions in northern Cameroon.
The completion of the dam in 1982 brought more than just electricity.
It brought the Lagdo Reservoir, a 586-square-kilometer miracle that stayed long after the rains stopped, said Ahmadou Bivoung, production director of the state-run Cameroon Electricity Company.
"It's a very successful project, the result of Sino-Cameroonian cooperation. The work was done very, very well, and when we monitor the dam's performance, it ranks among the best in the world in terms of stability. The work was done exceptionally well; the machines are well-calibrated," Ahmadou said.
"Overall, local and social development is indeed dependent on this infrastructure. All the economic development in Lagdo -- fishermen, businesses -- is based on the development of this structure. Industries developing in Garoua, the Far North, or the Adamawa region rely on the Lagdo Dam for the backbone of their supply," he added.
Bakary, the young man from Garoua who had a knack for fixing things but no formal training, is today proud of his contribution and pleased with what he learned. But he is still saddened by the four Chinese workers who died during the construction. "It was sad, very sad. Such a sacrifice."
"We miss all the Chinese who worked with us," he said. ■