First and foremost, we give thanks to Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, for His countless blessings upon us and for making this important occasion possible. It gives me great pleasure to join you for the formal launch and distribution of manual working materials to fifteen (15) Community-Based Organisations engaged in aquatic weed removal and channel clearance across our riverine communities. This initiative underscores our Administration’s firm commitment to environmental protection, climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and community participation in local development.
2. The initiative aligns closely with our 12-Point Agenda, particularly its emphasis on community participation, environmental sustainability, inclusive development, and effective land and natural resource management. While this commitment is broad, today’s launch focuses specifically on protecting riverine communities from invasive aquatic weeds and silted waterways, which heighten the risk of flooding, loss of farmlands, and disruption to local livelihoods. It is also consistent with my inaugural commitment to prioritise environmental sustainability by conserving natural resources, strengthening agro-climatic resilience, and safeguarding livelihoods from the adverse effects of environmental degradation.
3. Across Jigawa State, rivers, wetlands, and other water bodies remain central to food security, agricultural productivity, fisheries, livestock support, biodiversity conservation, and local economic growth. When protected and kept free from invasive weeds, they help sustain household incomes, rural enterprises, and community resilience. However, pressures such as weed infestation, siltation, unsustainable resource use, land degradation, and climate variability continue to threaten their productivity and expose communities to environmental risks. This makes the initiative critical to the long-term prosperity and resilience of our State.
4. Recently, the State Government procured two (2) additional amphibious excavators under the ACReSAL Project, complementing the two (2) units already in use. With two (2) more units previously provided by the Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority, six (6) amphibious excavators will now be available for weed clearance and channel dredging across the State. This will accelerate ongoing work and build on the more than 180 kilometres of waterways already desilted, while further improving water flow and reducing flood risks along our river channels.
5. As part of today’s exercise, the State Government will distribute working materials to fifteen (15) Community-Based Organisations earlier identified by the Honourable Commissioner. These groups, drawn from key riverine settlements and water-user communities, are being supported in recognition of their role in channel clearance and environmental sanitation within their localities. The materials include 10,000 bulk-sized empty sacks, 25 large-sized canoes, 1,000 sickles, 500 cutlasses, 500 shovels, 500 head pans, 300 hoes, 200 axes, 100 garma/gara, and 40 rolls of rubber ropes.
6. Through this support, we are empowering local communities to serve as active partners in environmental management, especially along downstream channels and river fringes. This reflects our conviction that lasting solutions are best achieved when communities are directly involved in protecting the natural resources on which they depend.
7. I warmly congratulate the beneficiary organisations and commend their sustained commitment to community service and environmental conservation. I urge all of you to effectively use and maintain these materials responsibly and strictly for their intended purpose, so that they serve as lasting instruments of shared responsibility and collective action.
8. Guided by this spirit of shared responsibility, our Administration will continue to support programmes that advance environmental sustainability, climate adaptation, afforestation, flood mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and responsible natural resource management across the State. As we say in Hausa, Hannu ɗaya ba ya ɗaukar jinka; kuma, da haɗin kai ake cin nasara. By collaborating, we can keep our rivers clean, protect our wetlands, strengthen food security, and leave a healthier, more productive environment for future generations.
9. On this note, it is now my singular honour and privilege to formally declare the launch and distribution of aquatic weed manual working materials to the selected fifteen (15) Community-Based Organisations officially open. May Allah continue to guide and bless this important effort.
10. Thank you all for your continued support and partnership. May Allah (SWT) continue to bless Jigawa State and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.