Sokoto Govt Assures on Constant Water Supply

•Boosts farming with 5000 acres of land

Onuminya Innocent

The Commissioner for Water Resources in Sokoto State, Alhaji Yusuf Mohammed Maccido, has given assurance on the commitment of the Governor Aliyu Ahmed administration to ensure constant water supply in the state.

He said this would become the reality with completion of the many water supply projects now nearing completion in the state.

In another related development, Sokoto State, targeting improved food production is set to experience massive investment in agriculture as Governor Aliyu has set aside 5000 acres of land for farming.

This was also disclosed by Maccido who revealed that the 5000 acres of land was part of the governor’s visionary action towards activating one of the key ideals of the renewed hope programme of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking in an interview in his office in Sokoto, Maccido said that Governor Aliyu was committed to the completion of the projects in order to resolve the issue of water scarcity in the state.

According to him, the current administration in Sokoto is committed to delivering on its promises to the people.

His words: “I want to assure you that once this project is completed, we will have the capacity to constantly supply water to the people of Sokoto State.

“We are currently working on power, which is as critical in water supply as the chemicals that we use in water treatment. We hope to get sufficient power because it is very strategic to our plans to deliver water in Sokoto state.”

Maccido appealed to people in the state to support the government’s effort at ensuring steady water supply by fixing leakages to curtail waste.

He said this has become necessary given the high cost expended on the water supply projects.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to people in Sokoto state to fix leakages and ensure that water is not wasted because it costs money to produce water more than we can recover from their payment.

“I am grateful to the governor for the unprecedented investment in the water sector. The last time we witnessed this was during the administration of our father, Senator Aliyu Wamakko,” Maccido said.

Maccido also stated that the administration in the state was also working on delivering rural water schemes that would ensure constant water supply to the rural communities.

This, he said, was one of the campaign promises of Governor Aliyy even as he assured that the project would be completed by the end of the current fiscal year.

Maccido listed other achievements of the ministry to include the installation and reconnection of pipelines for water supply and replacement of submersible pumps.

Maccido further said the Sokoto government was investing billions of naira in agricultural projects given the agrarian nature of the state.

His words: “We are definitely keying into President Bola Tinubu’s agricultural policy. Under the programme, about 5,000 acres of land would be prepared for farming.

“The programme which is nationwide is known as SPIN. It is a joint initiative of the state government, the federal government, and the World Bank.

“It is worth about $780 million and officials of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources have been to Sokoto to identify the dams that we are going to use for the project.

“We have applied to use four dams, of which two are owned by the federal government, but they are not functioning and one owned by the state government, the Lugu Dam.”

He further explained that part of the project was to ensure the repair of the dams and reinvigorate the land to make it arable.

“If we are able to make it work, the impact would be massive in terms of food production, and it would definitely improve standard of living of the people,” he said.

He also said that apart from massive ongoing water projects in the state, the government was also carrying out numerous projects on housing and healthcare, among other sectors.