Irrigation: World Bank to assist Nigeria with N100b

The World Bank will assist Nigeria boost irrigation activities with the sum of  N100 billion. Speaking while paying a courtesy visit to the Managing Director of the Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority, National Coordinator, Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria, Engineer Peter Yakubu, said over 23,000 hectares  of irrigable land are expected at the end […]

The World Bank will assist Nigeria boost irrigation activities with the sum of  N100 billion.
Speaking while paying a courtesy visit to the Managing Director of the Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority, National Coordinator, Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria, Engineer Peter Yakubu, said over 23,000 hectares  of irrigable land are expected at the end of the project.
He said that five dams were involved in the project including Bakalori Dam in Zamfara State, Goronyo Dam in Sokoto State, Hadeja Dam in Jigawa State, Dafin Kowa in Gombe State as well as a dam in Kano State.
Engineer Yakubu said the five-year project would have commenced in 2014 but for delay in releasing funds including the N44 million counterpart fund by the federal government.
He was optimistic that with renewed commitment of the federal government and the World Bank’s intervention, the objectives of the project would soon be achieved.
Among the objectives, he said, was to assist Nigeria to attain food sufficiency and security, adding that dry season farming was the only way for the attainment of food security and sufficiency in the country.
The Task Team Leader of World Bank, Mr David Cassanova, said their intervention was to enable Nigeria achieve food security through irrigation activities.
He said the visit was part of their routine inspection carried out after every six months to avail themselves with the level of preparedness for the take-off of the project.
He however groaned over the delay in drafting project designs for some of the dams.
The Managing Director of the River Basin, Alhaji Muktar Anka, said they have been sensitizing farmers in the affected areas on the importance of the project to their communities.