By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
Bauchi State Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL), is to protect a total of 213,000 people affected by the flood and erosion control measures including stabilization and channelization project from Tsohon Kampani to Gwallagan Mayaka in Bauchi LGA of Bauchi State.
The disclosure was made by the Project Coordinator of the project, Dr Ibrahim Kabir, in his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony of the project held on Wednesday assuring that some of the women in the along the channel will be empowered to be self-employed.
According to him, “This is the most difficult and the most challenging project that we are executing, and you are breaking or you are performing the ground-breaking today.”
“Why am I saying this, Your Excellency? It’s one time of the project that from the commencement of the actualization, we were unable to trace any report or any attempt of this project from the previous governments. His Excellency started all over from the conceptualization up to the implementation. Your Excellency, if I can put it in the context, what you are going to do today or what we are commencing today, Your Excellency, you are changing lives. You are restoring livelihoods. Your Excellency, you are adding value to over 213,000 residents that are on this corridor from Tsohon Kampani to Gwallagan Mayaka.,” he added.
The PC added that,”Your Excellency, I invited these community leaders to be with me because we have been working from the commencement of ACReSAL in the year 2022 up to today, trying to engage all the communities that are on the corridor, conducting the resettlement action plan, identifying vulnerable communities, and also identifying people that are going to be affected by this project.”
Ibrahim Kabir further stated that, “Your Excellency, these gentlemen by my side have been our mediators between the ACReSAL project and the entire beneficiaries, as I mentioned, over 213. 000,,people are to benefit.”
He added, “Your Excellency, based on the RAP assessment that we have conducted, this is one of the biggest projects ever implemented by ACReSAL in Nigeria. Your Excellency, the community leaders are now the side management committee. We know you are a principle of engaging the communities to supervise their job ownership.”
He also said that, ‘We have already inaugurated the site management committee headed by the traditional rulers, particularly the ward head of the Suleimanu Adamu community, who is chairing this site management committee.”
He added, “Your Excellency, we also identified the vulnerable communities that need your intervention under the livelihood restoration support programme that are by the right-hand side there. They are about 45. Your Excellency, based on your approval, we procured some livelihood support interventions for them, including the sewing machine, also the grinding machine, and all other equipment that will improve their life, particularly those that will be relocated as a result of this project, so that at least we can cushion their feelings about the project. ”
The PC added that,”What we are solving is a clear problem in the landscape, we are also targeting to have an irrigation system at the outfall of Gwallagan Mayaka. Your Excellency, the Gwallagan Mayaka community are here and we are supporting them with solar hand pumps that they can utilize the water that is going to be exiting through the community so that they can be engaged into irrigation farming.”
“Your Excellency, in summary, ACReSAL project is multifaceted, combining agriculture, environment, and water resources. Only in Bauchi, Your Excellency, in one project, under your watch, under your leadership, we are able to integrate the three, solving erosion and flooding, which are environmental base, conserving the water at the outflow, which is water resource fertility, and utilizing the collected water for irrigation farming, which is an agricultural aspect of ACReSAL.”
Motorcycles procured for the traditional rulers
“Your Excellency, I believe you have seen our memoirs and you have approved that you are going to support this site management committee with motorcycles so that they can help you in doing the supervision from the beginning of the project to the end. Your Excellency, after you have finished, you are going to distribute the motorcycles to these community leaders,” he added.
According,”And we allow them to see everything that the contractor is going to do so that at least they can help us. They may likely not be technical, but they can serve as whistleblowers to tell our technical team that this is exactly what they are expecting and this is what they are seeing. And these are based on your guidance and what you expect from the accuracy and that’s why we have this arrangement.”
Ibrahim Kabir added that, ‘Your Excellency, we really appreciate you. Apart from that, Your Excellency, I know whenever you are pushing, talking about waste management, your Excellency, we have started training of over 350 women along the corridor from Tsohon Kampani to Gwallagan Mayaka Mayaka. And some of them were able to use a package water nylon to produce some bags that are here locally made. And that’s why we’ve brought about 20 students from the two neighboring schools so that you can give them. ”
He added that,”And we keep encouraging the communities so that they can utilize the waste so that at the tail end, they may not likely going to dump the waste into the drains that we are going to establish in ACReSAL. So you can see how we are able to integrate and engage the community and mobilize them all the time as you instructed.”
The ACReSAL PC concluded saying,”Thank you very much. In that regard also, we are saying to you, after distribution of the equipment and the motorcycles, also to distribute the bags to the students and also encourage the women so that they can engage more into waste management. Thank you very much, We really appreciate.
Some of the beneficiaries of the empowerment programme
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