Governor Bala Mohammed commissions green house, laboratory upgraded by ACReSAL

By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi

Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, on Tuesday commissioned the complete rehabilitated and upgraded Green House and a Laboratory for Water, Soil and Plant undertaken by the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) at the College of Agriculture, Bauchi.

Speaking at the commissioning, the Governor said, “I came back personally to show Bauchi State’s respect and appreciation to the World Bank and to the ACReSAL, because these are the kind of things that brings us out.”

Bala Mohammed said, “We participated in this, and it is a kind of pleasant contest between sub-nationals. And we are doing it not with venom. We are doing it with knowledge, with achievement. And I must thank the ACReSAL team for having confidence in us. Our vocal Project Coordinator has shown knowledge and capacity, and that is the kind of leadership recruitment and the kind of manpower that we are trying to leave behind.”

“I must at this point acknowledge that this place was first built by former Governor, Dr. Ahmed Adamu Muazu during his tenure, since 1999, and it was left rot. It was indeed, for your information, His Excellency, the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, that came and commissioned it, but it all died over the years,” he added.

The Governor added that,”Now, during this period, we humbly say it is during our tenure that this is coming back through the World Bank, which makes it very, very auspicious.”

He further said, “But the missing link is what Dr. Joy Agene has said: the sustainability, the revenue generation and how it can be warehoused to ensure duplication of these facilities across the various senatorial zones, and so that it will become a center of research. And of course, to teach our young ones how to live on self-reliance, how they can do this and even exit from the excruciating problem of going for government white-collar jobs.”

Bala Mohammed commended the ACReSAL Task Team Leader, Dr Joy Iganya Agene, saying, “We thank you, Your Excellency Agene, for this. You have shown partnership to us. Please convey our appreciation to the World Bank, and by extension to the Federal Government for this kind of gesture and participation that they have allowed us to do. Definitely what we said is what we are going to do.”

According to him,”The Commissioners of Environment, Agriculture and Water Resources have heard you, and you have listened to our very vibrant vocal Project Coordinator, I believe I will need a structure to give me a whole rundown of how this thing could be sustained even where we leave. That is why we want you to really look at our regime so that we can have sustainability. We should have continuity. We should continue to do this.”

The Governor concluded,”Out of respect, I will call on TTL, Dr Joy Iganya Agene, who is to act as the World Bank to commission this very good facility, which is one of the biggest. And I also thank our other colleagues from the other states that came here.”

In her remarks, the ACReSAL TTL, Dr Joy Iganya Agene, commended the Governor and his administration for keying in to the ACReSAL project which has taken millions of people at the communities out of poverty.

Joy Iganya Agene, expressed optimism that the Green House will generate additional source of revenue for the College as well as provide employment opportunities for teeming unemployed youths in the State.

Earlier, the Project Coordinator, Dr Ibrahim Kabiru said that already, youths from neighbouring States have been coming to the centre for research and other activities.

He explained that the Green House is in stages of Duplex, Jumbo and Titanic based on their sizes and products to be harvested.

In his vote of thanks, the Provost of the College, Dr Ahmed Isah, thanked the Governor for approving the proposals for the revival of the Green House which had been abandoned before it was razed by fire.

He assured that it will be well and professionally managed this time around in order to sustain and make it a revenue yielding venture for the institution and the state government.

The Governor was also led to Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic (ATAP) where he inspected erosion control project embarked upon by ACReSAL.