President Muhammadu Buhari, has assured that Nigeria’s agricultural revolution remains real and on course as the Federal Government’s economic diversification and inclusive growth programmes are yielding positive results, particularly in key food-producing states.
The president stated this in Auyo, Jigawa State, at an event to mark the commencement of the rehabilitation and expansion of the 6,000-hectare Hadejia valley irrigation project yesterday.
Buhari assured Nigerians that his administration would sustain the positive momentum in the sector by implementing the right policies and providing the needed financial resources for people-oriented projects.
The President, who is in Jigawa for a two-day working visit, expressed delight that the APC-led administration’s economic diversification and inclusive growth programmes were yielding positive results.
He commended the World Bank’s assistance to the project, which, when completed, would increase water availability for all-season farming in the state and beyond.
Also speaking at the occasion the Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, explained that work on the Phase 1 of the project, which started in the early 80s during the administration of President Shehu Shagari and received some funding under the Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PSTF), had suffered frequent abandonment due to lack of funds.
Adamu said with N9.6 billion allocated under the $495 million World Bank-assisted Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) project in five different irrigation locations in Nigeria, the project would be completed by 2021.
“By the time the project is finished in three years, there would be about 6,000 hectares of farmland. The Jigawa State government also plans to key into the project that will benefit over 25,000 farmers,” the Minister said.
The President used the visit to inaugurate the 42-kilometre Tasheguwa-Guri Road and the 32-kilometre Abunabo-Kadira-Guri Road constructed by the state government to facilitate easier movement and evacuation of farm produce.
President Buhari also inaugurated the 250,000 solar-powered water supply scheme which is one out of nine of such projects, that will add nine million litres to daily water supply to Dutse and environs.