By Ibrahim Abdul’Aziz
President Muhammadu Buhari’s led government has vowed to complete the Chochi irrigation project that has been lingering for over twenty years now.
Making the pledge during a one-day working visit to Adamawa State, the minister of water resources, Eng. Sulaiman Adamu noted that he came to the state to monitor the irrigation project being one of the priority projects of the Buhari led government.
The minister who expressed dissatisfaction with the phase of work done so far noted that lack of political will was the major factor behind the tardiness of the project.
The minister who was part of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) that awarded the contract over two decades ago when president Buhari superintended the organization said: “If this project has been allowed to go when we started it, it will have been finished within three years. When we started we had a very good contractor on site, we had the money.
He noted that after the PTF was scrapped, it became apparent that the then government has lost the political will to continue with the project hence the delay in its execution.
“The succeeding administration lost the political will to go ahead because the agency handling the contract was scrapped and the whole transition was not managed well and the project was transferred to the ministry. Now that I’m the minister, it became my responsibility to revisit it.
“This is a project that we have prioritized, we want to see how we can finish it at the quickest possible time. That is why I personally came to see what is on ground because we have been receiving files over the Chochi project.”
The minister who also inspected Kiri dam lauded the management of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority (UBRBDA) for the good work in maintaining the facility.
“I’m quite happy, you can see that the dam is over 40 years and everything is still working. It is amazing considering that in Nigeria things only work for a couple of years. This says a lot about the people who are managing the facility and I will like to thank the management of UBRBDA,” he said.
While commissioning an upgraded supply scheme in Mbamoi ward, Yola South local government, the minister urged the people to own and protect the facility for optimal performance.
He noted that the water facility can provide up to 200,000 litres per day and equipped with solar powered panels to guard against the cost of procuring diesel.
At a courtesy call on the Lamido of Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha, the minister called on the monarch to support the campaign against open defecation, as Nigeria is currently rated as the first country in the League of Nations with a high rate of open defecation.
He informed the monarch that he was in the state to inspect ongoing projects and to also commission a mini water project in Yola South.
Commenting, the Lamido of Adamawa, thanked the federal government for its relentless efforts in carrying the state along.
The monarch also promised to take the campaign against open defecation to all nooks and crannies of his emirate in order to reduce the menace and uphold healthy living in his domain.
