The Federal Government has constructed 500 tube wells and distributed 500 pumping machines to farmers in Rogogo Village in Zango Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The Executive Director, Planning and Design, Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority (SRRBDA), Alhaji Bashir Zango, disclosed this on Tuesday during the distribution ceremony at Rogogo Village.
He said the effort was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s programme aimed at taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty before the end of 2023.
According to him, no fewer than 54 projects, worth more than N60 million, have been initiated by the Federal Government through various organisations in the state.
Zango said the projects included the provision of solar- powered boreholes, tube wells, water pumps, construction and rehabilitation of earth dams, primary and secondary schools structures.
“There is the need for the beneficiaries to make proper use of the opportunity to made themselves self-reliant and also to ensure the development of their communities.
“Once you utilise this opportunity, you can also assist other people, which I believe through that you can produce more for personal use and also exportation.
“This is the simplest way that we can support the efforts of the president towards moving the country to a greater level,” he said.
In his address, the Speaker, Katsina State House of Assembly, Alhaji Tasi’u Maigari, commended Federal Government for boosting the agricultural sector in the country.
He said the gesture would go a long way in assisting farmers and the youth to build themselves through farming without looking for salaried jobs.
“Let us hold irrigation as a means of livelihood, those in need of our goods should come to us and utilise this opportunity,” he said.
Speaking, the Village Head of Rogogo, Alhaji Idi Umar, commended Federal and State Governments for providing the farmers with all the necessary support.
Earlier, the representative of the beneficiaries, Malam Muhammad Na-Kande, assured the Federal Government that they would judiciously use the tube wells and the pumping machines.
“For the past 30 years, we have never had such a gesture’’ he said. (NAN)
