The federal government says partial commercialization of the River Basins would enhance the Economic Development of the Country.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation professor Joseph Utsev disclosed this when he paid an inspection visit to Tiga Dam in Kano.
He said the aim of the visit was to asses the state of Dam and assess the challenges , and at addressing them.
Professor Joseph Utsev said the main purpose of constructing the Dam is for Irrigation flood control and energy generation.
He said government is ever ready to partner commercial farmers who are interested geared towards boosting food production
” we are ready to partner with commercial farmers , they come and register with us , and we will allow them to tap water from the Dam for commercial farming which will help immensely in enhancing food production ”
He said one of the major challenges the Dam is currently facing was illegal tapping of the water from the Dam by farmers.
” farmers are tapping water illegally from the canals and this will have negative impact, hence we are working towards calling the attention of the farmers so that they will register with the government and the water would be supplied to them , and we will also update our data base for effective service delivery.
Speaking earlier the Managing Director of the Hadejia Jammaare, River Basin, Ma’Amun Dau Aliyu, explained that over 3 Million Farmers are benefiting from the Tiga Dam while hundreds of others are syphoning the Water illegally.
He said they have since commenced moves to register all those that are operating illegally so that the Minister and the Federal Government mission of Commercializing the Water would be quickly achieve.
Mr. Dau Aliyu, hints that the Dam that was build some 50 years ago was constructed on 1.4 Billion cubic Water Capacity, and was done on some 5 Million combined Kano/Jigawa Population then, but still it has not been fully utilized.
He said the Tiga Dam has Canals and small Dams that linked up to Lake Chad trough Kamadugu River Basin in Yobe State, adding that with the Commercialization of the Dam more economic input would be recorded.
ABDULLAHI JALALUDDEEN/KANO
