Jigawa State governor, Umar Namadi, has pleaded with the federal government to accelerate the completion of Hadejia Valley Irrigation project to enhance food production in the state.
The governor said the irrigation project which commenced about 40 years ago – during the Shehu Shagari administration, and aimed at improving crop production is yet to achieve its full potential.
The governor made the comment during the flag-off of the National Wheat Development Programme being supported by the federal government in Hadejia Local Government of Jigawa, on Saturday.
“Let me take this opportunity to urge the Federal Government to accelerate the completion of the Hadejia Valley Irrigation Project with a potential irrigable area of over 25,000 hectares and a capacity to significantly deliver the food security objective of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The Hadejia Valley Project, which was initiated by the Late Shagari Administration in the early 1980s, is still less than 25 per cent completed after almost four decades.
“Following a flag-off of the project performed in 2018, it is noteworthy that earlier this year, former President Muhammad Buhari commissioned the successful completion of a segment of the project covering about 6,000 hectares.
“There is no doubt that has significantly contributed to our quest for food security, job creation, and economic diversification. Despite this significant stride, however, there is still a long way to go considering the project’s potential.
“It is my prayer that the Tinubu Administration will make history by completing the project 100 per cent,” Mr Namadi appealed.
The Hadeja Irrigation Valley is one of the projects under the Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority. It consists of a barrage with a storage capacity of 11.4 million cubic meters of water with its input coming from the water released from the upstream Challawa and Tiga Dams into the river system.
Its potential irrigable area is 25,000 hectares. It is a gravity irrigation system with north and south main canals. The north main canal, which is completed and operational, is about 27km long and covers 12,500 and 5,300 hectares, the Jigawa State Ministry of Agriculture claims.
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