Re: Tension in Jigawa LGs over disputed land
My attention has been drawn to a story promoted on the cover of Daily Trust newspaper of Tuesday 16th of May 2017, and carried on page three of the paper, titled ‘Tension in Jigawa LGs over Disputed Land’ written by one Aliyu M. Hamagam from Dutse.
In the story, it was falsely alleged that there was tension in Gagarawa, Sule Tankarkar, Garki and Taura local government areas of Jigawa State over 12,000 hectares granted to an investor for a sugarcane plantation for a sugar factory in the area.
The phantom story was knitted around a sugar project set up at Garin Ciroma in Gagarawa local government area of the state by a Chinese investor who is committed to producing 100,000 metric tons of sugar per annum, with an investment outlay of about US$80 million. The project is based on a 12,000 sugarcane plantation spread across three other local government areas of Taura, Sule Tankarkar and Garki: The investor is to cultivate 6,000 hectares, while the people of the area are to cultivate the remaining 6,000 hectares with all inputs provided by the investor, which include irrigation channels and water, seeds, fertilizers, pesticide and herbicides and other farming technology implements. The investor is also to buy the sugarcane at a competitive market price. Still, the farmers are to cultivate other crops of their choice in between the sugarcane ridges.
The project was flagged off two weeks ago with grandeur and fanfare by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar in Garin Ciroma at the presence of the Governor of Central Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, the paramount ruler of the area, the Emir of Gumel, Alhaji Muhammed Sani and many other dignitaries.
The factory is expected to provide jobs to thousands of youth, from the plantation to the production lines. It will also generate other employments and associated businesses in the area as well as yield internally generated revenues for the state and local councils in the area, while assisting to save the country foreign exchange use in importing sugar; Mr. Emefiele lamented at the occasion that “Nigeria today spends over $100 million importing sugar in the country whereas we can grow sugar Nigeria.” .
Adequate compensation was paid to most of the land owners around the project, only very few farmers who were instigated by a local politician in the area refused to collect theirs, and went to court. Some of these farmer live at the two communities this reporter claimed to have visited, Gayawar Mallam and Garin Ciroma, and asserted that farmers in the areas “who collected compensation were now banished from their communities”, yet he failed to name or quotes any of the victims.
Therefore, it is only within the fertile imagination of the reporter that ‘tension’ exists in the area, or in any of the 27 local government areas of Jigawa State. Also, if anybody wishes to have ‘tension’ in Jigawa State, that person will never see one in his lifetime, as Jigawa is a peaceful state and it will continue to be so, In Sha Allah.
Bello Zaki is the SA Media to Jigawa State governor.