- President Buhari disclosed plans to create 500,000 jobs from irrigation farming
- He said this during the inauguration of governing boards for the River Basin Development Authority (RBDA) and two other agencies
- He warned the newly inaugurated board members against interfering in the activities of the agencies, stating that their role is to drive the general policies guiding their operations
President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed plans to create additional 500,000 jobs from irrigation farming.
Buhari stated this during the inauguration of governing boards of all the 12 River Basin Development Authoriry (RBDAs), Nigerian Hydrological Agency (NHSA) and the National Water Resource Institute (NWRI), the Guardian reports.
NAIJ.com gathered that the president said his government’s plan was to increase the total number of irrigable land from the current 130,000 of land to 500,000 hectares over the next 14 years which would create over 500,000 jobs while fish production both formal and informal would yield 1 million tonnes of fish per year with attendant job creation of 20,000 people.
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The minister of water resources, Suleiman Adamu, conducted the inauguration on Thursday, February 22, in Abuja on behalf of President Buhari.
He tasked the newly inaugurated members of the governing boards to come up with policies that would enhance water supply and increase food production in the country.
The minister charged them to bring to fore the vision of the government by developing sound policies and ideas that would enhance provision of water for human consumption and agricultural activities to guarantee national food production for the country.
He warned them against interfering in the day-to-day running of the parastatals and agencies, as their role is to drive the general policies guiding their operations.
The minister maintained that their aim was to reposition all the 12 River basins across the country to embark on massive agriculture and irrigation activities.
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He highlighted the functions of the governing board of the RBDAs to include formulation of business plans, policies and guidelines relating to the achievement of the objectives of the authority, and so on.
NAIJ.com previously reported that the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, said on Saturday, February 3, that the Buhari administration was fully committed to creating new jobs in all sectors of the economy.
He gave the assurance in Port Harcourt at the sixth graduation ceremony of 100 male and female entrepreneurs trained by the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has added millions of new jobs to the economy since the administration took office in 2015.
Nigeria’s agricultural revolution kick-starts in Nasarawa state on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng
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Saturday, 24 February 2018