*Photo: President Bola Tinubu*
Chairman of Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority,Alhaji Sanusi Baban Takko (Barayan Bauchi), has commended President Bola Tinubu’s vision and intention to resuscitate Irrigation Farming.
He gave the commendation in a statement on Saturday.
He said “In my capacity as the Chairman, Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, comprising of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba States, I hail and commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision and intention to resuscitate Irrigation Farming for sustainable development and youths empowerment.
“On behalf of the entire Management of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, I am extending goodwill and solidarity to our amiable President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his visionary move to use Irrigation Farming as a catalyst to engage our teeming youths in promoting agricultural development. This aligns squarely with one of the focal points of the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
He added that “Interestingly, without any iota of doubt, as the Chairman of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, I have keyed into President Tinubu’s transformative vision of using agriculture as a tool for societal transformation, especially considering that states in the North-Eastern part of the country have previously suffered serious social and humanitarian crises due to insurgency.
“Moreover, my appreciation and kudos go to our amiable leader, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for giving agriculture a place of pride in the present dispensation. It is worth bearing in mind that before the emergence of the oil boom, agriculture was the mainstay of our economy, particularly in Northern Nigeria.
“On this note, as a grassroots-oriented politician, my desire is to mobilize critical stakeholders, especially our energetic youths across all states under my jurisdiction to key into this noble idea of Irrigation Farming brought to our doorsteps by our indefatigable leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This initiative is a sure way of alleviating poverty, reducing unemployment, promoting social justice and self-reliance, ensuring equitable resource distribution to end-users, and boosting export to the entire Sub-Saharan region and the world at large.
“Suffice it to say, one of the outstanding merits of Irrigation Farming, as emphasised in President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, is that it aims to achieve economic empowerment for the greater majority.
“Furthermore, as a way of expanding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision on Irrigation Farming, I, in my capacity as Chairman of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, shall liaise and synergize with development partners and countries that have successfully implemented irrigation farming. We aim to leverage each other’s experience in achieving our set goals.
“I use this medium to call upon our traditional rulers, youths, stakeholders, and men and women of goodwill in the states hosting the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority to put all hands on deck for the success of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s core initiatives on Irrigation Farming. History and posterity will surely record us in a positive light for adding value to the general good of our people and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“In conclusion, in my solemn duty as the Chairman of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, I thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his team for conceiving this noble and laudable scheme of Irrigation Farming for youths empowerment in our region and Nigeria as a whole. This initiative, among many other fantastic and lofty programs of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has earned him the title of Father of Modern-Day Nigeria in Agriculture. I urge him not to despair, for as Napoleon Hill said: “Victory belongs to the most persevering.”