The Kwara State Government has said irrigation would transform the state into a food-producing and self-sufficient state.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said this while declaring open the North-Central Regional Workshop on establishment/strengthening of Water Users’ Associations ,WUA for management of public irrigation schemes at the Peace Hotel, Ilorin.
AbdulRazaq who was represented by his Deputy, Mr Kayode Alabi, described the Nigerian Government concept of Participatory Irrigation Management,PIM Intervention introduced for the farming communities as timely and apt.
The scheme, he said, would ensure farmers’ complete involvement in irrigation right from conceptualisation to implementation with a view to its sustenance.
AbdulRazaq said it was pertinent for states to replicate the success story from the effectiveness in the scheme as the World Bank-sponsored program was aimed at transforming irrigation management at state and federal levels.
He appreciated the Nigerian government for organising the workshop, which, he stressed would enhance the livelihoods of the people of Kwara and the entire North-Central Region.
Also speaking, Minister of Water Resources, Engineer Suleiman Adamu said the World Bank training project under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources aims to transform irrigation management in Nigeria.
He, therefore, urged participants at the workshop to brainstorm and deliberate on the challenging issues of constraints affecting the full realisation of the Nigerian government’s commitment to achieving sufficient employment generation through irrigation agriculture.
Confidence Okwuchi
