By Abdullahi Mohammed
A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Jigawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Hanungiwa has advised the governor-elect, Malam Umar Namadi, to exploit the state’s arable land to boost its revenue base.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, Hanungiwa said the incoming administration must utilise smart irrigation technology to tackle emerging economic and social problems in the state.
Hanungiwa, who is also the Commissioner for Water Resources, said he expected the governor-elect to set ambitious target towards transforming revenue generation through optimal utilisation of the arable land in the state.
He, however, expressed dismay on how Nigeria with over 200 million people had less than 500,000 hectares of lands for cultivation of rice whilst a country of 35 million people cultivated rice on five million hectares of lands.
Hanungiwa advised the governor-elect to accord premium towards developing smart irrigation to create job and eradicate poverty for sustainable social and and economic development of the state.
“The incoming administration must transform the current irrigation system.
“The transformation must be design to work as a vital tool for wealth creation among the people and revenue booster for the government,” he said.
This, he said, could be achieved through ambitious target to expand the scope of seaonal to all year round irrigation activities.
According to him, practical measures are necessary to address the constraints which make irrigation difficult for smallholder farmers, especially the smart irrigation.
Hanungiwa advocated dam clusters to enhance release of water to farmlands as well as construction of boreholes in areas with no water bodies. (NAN)
