Why we prioritised irrigation schemes, by Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has explained that his administration was giving priority to rehabilitation, expansion and completion of irrigation projects across the country because of their enormous contributions to the economy of the country and of stakeholders in the benefiting communities.

The President was speaking on Tuesday at Auyo in Auyo Local Council of Jigawa State where he commissioned the N17 billion Hadejia Valley Irrigation Scheme, covering a net area of 5,780 hectares.

The scheme was executed under the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) Project by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources with the support of the World Bank.

The President recalled that he honoured the invitation of the Minister of Water Resources to personally flag-off the HVIS project in 2018 “in demonstration of the commitment of our administration towards self-sufficiency in food production, employment generation, and ultimately poverty reduction.”

He reiterated the commitment of his administration to making efforts to ensure that irrigated agriculture becomes more attractive to the country’s teeming youths. 

He said: “This is to provide opportunity for all year-round farming and enormous employment generation to guarantee Nigeria’s food security.

“We are, therefore, convinced that the key to our quest for economic diversification and survival lies in increased food production, including through dry season farming. A sound and sustainable irrigated agriculture will create more jobs and wealth. It will usher in sustainable economic prosperity because we will produce what we consume as a nation and generate foreign exchange by exporting any surplus. 

“Among the reasons we will continue to support this option, therefore, is that irrigated agriculture will provide all-year-round socioeconomic and food production activities, thereby facilitating sustainable economic prosperity.”

In his welcome address, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, described the TRIMING Project as an innovative model approach adopted by the Federal Government, aimed at opening access to life changing opportunities for farming communities that are involved with the Project. 

He said the Project was also serving as a vehicle to effectively harness the potentials of large water resources infrastructure, some of which were built well over 40 years ago, but largely remained either unutilised, or grossly underutilized. 

He said: “The ever-growing food security concerns worldwide, due to demographic pressure, combined with increased competition for water and climate variability has continued to mount pressure on policy makers and practitioners in the food production industry.

“These developments have, more than ever, brought forward the importance of irrigation to provide for the ever-increasing deficit in the supply of needed food and fibre, especially for a rapidly growing urban population in the emerging and least developed countries.

“To achieve this goal, existing irrigation and drainage systems need to be rehabilitated, modernised, upgraded or complemented, and in some instances, even re-designed.”

The minister identified the main beneficiaries of the full components of the TRIMING Project as basin stakeholders, irrigation and drainage entities, water user associations, farmers and villagers in the Project areas. 

He said: “Through the direct infrastructure investments (covering about 37,000 ha) and concomitant activities in agriculture and on-farm water management focused in these areas, approximately 140,000 farm families with about one million people will directly benefit. 

“Moreover, the project is expected to strengthen five Water User Association Federations (WUAF), each comprising about 550 multiple secondary and tertiary level Water Users Associations (WUAs), servicing and representing the beneficiary farmers. 

“Also, some activities are targeted towards strengthening integrated water resources management across states and improving upstream and downstream dialogue.”

Adamu said the commissioning of the HVIS by the President was a clear demonstration of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources’ commitment towards the implementation of the President’s agenda to transform Nigeria into a strong and virile economy by lending support to his efforts in effectively harnessing the nation’s abundant natural, human and especially, water resources.

Adamu said the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING), supported by the World Bank, had trained the Water Users Association (WUA) to operate and maintain the facilities.

The National Project Coordinator of TRIMING Project, Peter Yakubu Manjok, stated that the Hadejia Valley Irrigation Scheme (HVIS) took the contractors about four and half years to complete.

He enjoined the farmers to manage and run the scheme perfectly, as well as make sure that it remains in good condition and sustainable, given that it has finally been handed over to them as a finished product.