Kwara government, World Bank to collaborate on irrigation farming

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has urged the World Bank to site its power and irrigation farming project in the state.

The governor stated this at the Stakeholders Engagement meeting on Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Projects (SPIN), held at Peace Hotel Conference Hall, Tanke, in Ilorin the state capital.

Mr AbdulRazaq, who was represented on the occasion by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Razaq Jida, said the project will boost agriculture and raise the living standard of the people if sited in Kwara.

Welcoming the participants to the meetings, the state Commissioner for Water Resources, Usman Lade, said the state has enough dams to meet the World Bank requirements for siting the project.

He said the project will boost food security in the state and Nigeria at large.

The representative of the World Bank from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Abuja, Bello Garba, highlighted the World Bank’s detailed requirements for the establishment of the project in any part of the country.

According to him, some of the requirements include the existing dam, counterpart funding, 500 hectares of land, proper records of water users association, and study and design, among others.

Mr Garba said the World Bank adheres strictly to these criteria.

The Managing Director, Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin, Adeniyi Aremu, said his agency, through the World Bank, has collaborated with the state government on several projects, noting that this one would not be an exception.

Mr Aremu assured the participants of his agency’s capacity to ensure the success of the projects across the state.

The Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Water Resources,Christiana Asonibare, told the participants that the state government would do the needful to ensure that the people of the state benefit tremendously from the project.

She thanked the participants for their contributions, especially Governor AbdulRazaq, for creating an enabling environment and support for the project.

After deliberations at the meeting, the team from the State and Federal Ministry of Water Resources, representatives of the World Bank and Lower Niger River Basin Authority, Ilorin, visited Malete, Omu-Aran and Duku Lade water dams to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the areas.

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They all expressed satisfaction that the dams have the potential for all-year-round irrigation farming, adding that some of the dams already have existing canals, channels, and enough water intake needed for the project.

Receiving members of the team at his palace, the community head of Lade, Haruna Abubakar, thanked them for the visit.