Minister Commends Sokoto-Rima River Basin Over Infrastructure Drive

Minister of state, Water Resources and Sanitation, Muhammad Goronyo, has commended the Sokoto-Rima River Basin Development Authority (SRRBDA) over massive infrastructure development in the area.

The minister who gave the commendation during a visit to SRRBDA headquarters in Sokoto urged them to embrace partial commercialisation of the basin to boost food production in the country.

He noted that partial commercialisation of the River Basin is not a complete sale of the basins but an invitation for capable investors to contribute and foster increased food production to reduce hunger, poverty, unemployment and create wealth among youths, men and women in the country.

Goronyo listed both completed and ongoing projects at the headquarters to include the Songhai Model Integrated Farm which houses cultivated crops in greenhouses, poultry, python, goat/ram, and fishery sections, as well as a sachet water production factory.

The minister of state and entourage also visited and inspected the 15-year-old Shagari Dam with a 70 percent completion level and the yet to be completed water treatment plant for the drip-irrigation pilot scheme site in Sagi (Agare) town in Sokoto State.

The team also visited the Goronyo Dam where the inspection covered the Control Room, Arc Gate Control Cabinet, Major Spillway, Gantry Crane, Mini Spillway, and Cross Regulator, all of which play a crucial role in regulating the major irrigation canal in Goronyo LGA.

He also inspected the Bakolori Dam with a reservoir of about 400 million cubic meters of water, along with the SRRBDA Bakolori Irrigation project managed by Trimming in Talata Mafara, Zamfara State.

Goronyo also inaugurated the SRRBDA Songhai Model Integrated Farm in Saka Village, Chinaka District of Goronyo LGA which has sections dedicated to poultry, fishery, goat rearing, and greenhouse seedlings.

He also inaugurated the Songhai Model Integrated Farm in Maradun LGA of Zamfara State, one of the catchment areas of the SRRBDA. The farm also has sections dedicated to poultry, fishery, goats and rams.