Towards fighting insecurity, Sokoto state government says it will partner Indonesia, Islamic Development Bank, IsDB, and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing system for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL, for modern animal rearing, including animal health centers across the state.
Governor Aminu Tambuwal, disclosed this when he received the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, AVM Usra Harahap who are in the state for a working visit at Government House, Sokoto on Friday.
According to him, the drive towards the initiative is geared towards addressing the challenges of cattle rearing, farmers-herdsmen clashes that has catalyzed security challenges in the country.
Tambuwal said the target of the partnership is to avail farmers in the state, neighbouring states as well Niger Republic, the opportunity of livestock rearing without the intermittent skirmishes that accompany it.
He reiterated the state government’s attention to agricultural mechanization and plan to engage the private sector by giving them incentives to establish plants in the state.
Applauding the Indonesian embassy for its sustained interest and collaboration with the state in many sectors, Governor Tambuwal said the technical support that the state Zakkat and Waqf Commission (SOZECOM) have been enjoying from the Indonesian government was yielding the desired results.
He listed other areas of support from the Asian giant to include education, provision of scholarships to Sokoto state indigenes, health, agriculture and others.
He noted that were it not for the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s technical team would have gone far in its development of the required templates to fast-track the realization of the thematic areas of cooperation.
He also appreciated the Indonesian embassy’s outreach to indigent areas of the state where last year and this current year, Ambassador Harahap and his wife have donated items to the less privileged.
Tambuwal said this gesture shows the personal attachment of the envoy a d his country to the development of the people of Sokoto in addition to the deeper collaboration and cooperation between the two entities.
Earlier in his remarks, AVM Harahap expressed satisfaction with the level of commitment between his country and Sokoto State, noting that the bilateral relationship, now slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has nonetheless reached advanced level.
Top of the list he said is his country’s consideration for the reformation of the Almajiri system of education, with a view to remodelling it by providing basic needs such as clothing, shelter, medical facilities and and empowerment to the students.
