By Kemi Kasumu, General Editor
Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu; Secretary to
the Katsina State Government, Dr. Muhammad Inuwa and the Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at the Commissioning and
Handing over of Sabke, Dutsi and Mashi Water Supply Schemes and
Irrigation Projects in Mai’Adua, Katsina State on Monday.
Undaunted by misrepresentation of facts by elements of past administrations including Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan under the watch of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the sitting government in the country under President Muhammadu Buhari has insisted that it will continue to be committed to completing projects abandoned by them.
Those projects were awarded and paid for with Nigerian money although not executed, when now completed by this government, they will remain projects of Nigeria. This is the spirit said to be driving the workforce of the Buhari Administration, which made it clear from takeoff that it would embark on completion of projects abandoned by its predecessor.
The fact that both former rulers have had their names on the lips of looters under trials who claim they authorized their loots have made watchers of events wonder whether the current day critics of the Buhari Administration actually have love of the nation at hearts or not.
But the government has refused to look at the side of the misrepresentations, particularly by people loyal to those leaders who, finding excuses for their incompetent intellectuality, say information managers of the Buhari government have not done enough to enable them see what the President has done and is doing.
It just moves on leaving undisputable facts and figures to be the selling point of its performances.
Moving forward the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, assured Nigerians that the Buhari government will continue to be committed to completing projects that have been abandoned by those who are now the loudest critics of today.
The Minister gave the assurance in Sabke, Katsina State, during the commissioning and handing over of three water supply schemes on Monday.
He said the three water supply projects, for Sabke, Dutsi and Mashi communities, started in 1998 but were abandoned by subsequent administrations.
Alhaji Mohammed said the commissioning of the three water projects marked the second time in a week that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources was inaugurating a completed water supply scheme, following the one in Edo State last Thursday.
“The commissioning of these projects fits into our ongoing agenda to showcase the achievements of the Buhari Administration, especially in the area of Infrastructure where the Administration has spent an unprecedented 2.7 trillion Naira in just two years,” he said.
The Minister recalled that the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture had recently kick-started a nationwide tour of Federal Government projects as part of efforts to showcase such projects.
He said the team had inspected ongoing work on the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Guage Rail, which is the first leg of the Lagos-Kano Standard Guage Rail Project.
“We then followed up by touring the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where work has been epileptic until this Administration came into office.
“Our next stop was the commissioning of an erosion and deflooding project in Osogbo – an Ecological Fund project – last week, which has given the people of the Osun State capital a new lease on life.
“From there, we inspected the Oyo-Ogbomoso road, the dualisation of which was awarded in 2010 and expected to be ready by 2013 but has been stalled due to lack of funds until this Administration assumed office. Today, we are here to commission three key water projects.
“What these show is that this Administration is delivering on its promises to ensure better life for Nigerians, irrespective of what the naysayers are saying,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, said the Sabke Dam, Irrigation and Water Supply Project was first conceived in 1998, and that after several years of neglect, the project was completed and commissioned by the present administration.
Mr. Adamu, who commissioned and handed over the projects, said the Sabke Water Supply Scheme is a conventional Water Treatment Plant with the capacity to provide 1 million gallons per day of potable water to
Daura and Mai’adua areas.
“The Dutsi and Mashi Water Schemes are package plants with each having capacity to provide 1,000 m3/day or about 250,000 gallons of treated water per day to Dutsi and Mashi inhabitants. In all, the three plants have a combined capacity to serve over 100,000 people daily. We have also provided for the construction of 38 borehole schemes to serve all the villages along the Sabke-Daura water transmission pipeline,” he said.
Dignitaries at the occasion include the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Faruk Umar, and the Secretary to the Government of Katsina State, Dr. Mustapha Inuwa, who represented the State Governor.
