By YANGE IKYAA

The Nigerian minister of water resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, has handed over seven irrigation facilities, which have been rehabilitated by his ministry at Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State. The seven rehabilitated irrigation sections or sectors are of the Kano River Irrigation Scheme for farmers, domiciled within the Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority in the state.

Speaking during the handing over ceremony, Engr. Adamu described KRIS as one of the five existing irrigation schemes being rehabilitated by the ministry of water resources under the Transformation Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) project.

He also stated that 14 sectors, covering an area of 2,023 hectares, had already been completed and handed over to the farmers, while the seven newly completed ones, which include Waire, Bagaza, Yantomo, Kadawa, Gafan, Ruga, Yakasai cover an area of 3,167 hectares.

Adamu further explained that, as part of the transformation effort of the ministry through the TRIMING project, technical assistance programmes have been employed to train farmers and farmer associations, including personnel of River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) on effective operation of irrigation systems, as well as on modern agricultural best practices.

The minister expressed optimism that RBDAs will ensure that farmers and their associations take their new business responsibilities with dedication by keeping the canals, drains, roads, culverts and other structures handed over to them in healthy working conditions at all times, adding further that this will justify the expenditure of time and financial resources spent to empower them and their associations, as well as RBDA staff.

He also requested all involved in “this transformation process” to bring on maximum effort in supporting the process and ensuring that, in the end, success will be guaranteed. Adamu noted that the entire TRIMING project is an experimental exercise by the ministry, which is planned to be rolled out to other river basin development authorities across the federation, focusing primarily on successful completion and reporting on the performance of the project. The minister equally enjoined the contractors handling the project to double up their efforts to ensure that the remaining sectors are delivered on or before the agreed time.

In his remarks, the managing director of Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Authority, Ma’amun Da’u Aliyu, said that the Kano River Irrigation Scheme is one of the largest and most successful irrigation schemes in Nigeria.

According to the him, it is located in Bunkure, Kura and Garun Malam Local Government Areas of Kano State, with a project office at Kura.

He said that this occasion will remain memorable in the history of KRIS and the people of Kano State and also a milestone in the transformation of the irrigation (TRIMING) sub-sector in the country.

Aliyu assured the minister that the management of the HJRBDA, the entire staff at the headquarters and project levels are working together with the TRIMMING project teams to make the goal of integrated and participatory management of irrigation resources a global best practice.

On his part, the national coordinator TRIMING, Engr Peter Yakubu Manjuk, said that TRIMMING has accomplished half of its projects. He also gave run down of its activities, the main work components of the KRIS, the completely rehabilitated sectors, and projected new infrastructure for uncompleted sectors. Manjuk stated that the milestone so far achieved was made possible by President Muhammadu Buhari and the honourable minister of water resources.

The high point of the event was the handing over of the seven newly rehabilitated sectors of irrigation facilities to the Kano farmers by the honourable minister, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, who was accompanied by the contractor that handled the project, and by the representative of the farmers in signing the handover document.

The Emir of Rano, represented by Makamon Rano, Dr. Yahaya Isah Baukure, thanked the federal government for citing the project in his community and urged local farmers to make judicious use of the project.

The honourable minister also visited and inspected the Tiga Dam project in Kano.