Deep Thought

 Re: Sitting on a Goldmine -Irrigation, a Glorious Future for Katsina State By Prof. MK Othman This article attracted mammoth reactions from my readers. It is a sign of goodwill for the Katsina State governor-elect, Dr. Umar Dikko Radda, a round peg in a round hole, an agricultural extensionist in an agrarian state dearly craving salvage. What a timely happening. In the next few days, he will be inaugurated as the first PhD holder, democratically elected to occupy the seat of Katsina state governor. Can he make a positive difference in the lives of Katsina people? Can he outshine others who came before him? He has a catalog of overwhelming challenges but he is also well groomed, educationally, administratively, and experience-wise. May the Almighty Allah see him through. Now, here are selected readers’ comments on the Article, “Irrigation Glorious Future for Katsina State”. Happy reading.   This is an excellent article written by an intelligent, mighty, hardworking, and excell...

 Re: Food Security in Africa- Is Genetically Modified Technology a Pathway? By Prof. MK Othman This week, I honored an invitation sent to me in November 2022. I was invited to make a keynote address at the 48th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Society for Plant Protection, tagged “Kano -NSPP 2023” with the title “Plant Health, Crop Improvement, and Sustainable Food Security in Nigeria”. I was hesitant about accepting the invitation but the caliber and personal relationship with the members of the organizing committee could not allow me to reject it. With all the eggheads in crop protection and plant science around, why invite me, an agricultural engineer to talk as a keynote speaker? I later realized the wisdom behind the invitation, someone outside the profession should tell the professionals, his impression, thoughts, and the impacts of the profession on society. It is also an opportunity to talk about the GMT, the question of safety, and so on. This opportunity came on Monday, ...

 Sitting on a Goldmine: Irrigation, a Glorious Future for Katsina State II By Prof. M. K. Othman Confessionally, Katsina state is among the luckiest states to have acquired five multi-billion Naira irrigation projects littered across the state. Conservatively, these projects – Zobe, Jare, Dallaji, Sabke, and Jibia dam projects have gulped over 150 billion Naira from the Federal government in the last three decades. For instance, Zobe water supply project Phase I and II alone was appropriated N3.227 billion in the 2017 Appropriation under a budget line, FMOWR64053426. This is in addition to the “little chip in” by the Katsina state government, “now and then”. For example, in August 2003, the then-governor Umaru Yar’adua’s government allocated a princely sum of N317 million for funding a 16-kilometer supply of water from Zobe Dam to Dutsinma town. One can only appreciate the staggering huge resources allocated to these projects after going through their financial audits. These projec...

 Sitting on a Goldmine: Irrigation, a Glorious Future for Katsina State By Prof. M. K. Othman Nostalgically, my hope of a better tomorrow for Katsina state was kindled in 2008 when I joined experts from ABU Zaria who were commissioned to make a project proposal for revamping agriculture in the state. On that note, I subconsciously dreamt of Katsina state gloriously galloping ahead of its peers at the envy of Kano and Kaduna states. The revamping project took us to all nooks and crannies of the state and dug out the actual and potential of agricultural resources littered across the state. I led the Irrigation team that appraised 25 selected irrigation schemes/projects under State and Federal Governments.   The state has 36,200 ha of potentially irrigable land in the Fadama and over 10,000 ha of land that can be developed for irrigation under the irrigation projects of the Federal government for the Zobe, Jibia, and Sabke dams. Irrigation provides meaningful employment during th...

 Food Security in Africa: Is Genetically Modified Technology a Pathway? III By Prof. MK Othman The second part of this article was published on 8th March 2023 and then two key political issues crossed my mind, which made me discontinue this article. My esteemed readers, please, pardon my break and now, I am back to continue on the subject. Recall, the last line of part II of this article ended with two pertinent questions. Can Africa afford GMT? What is the viable strategy for Africa to benefit from cutting–edge technology? On the cost of research and development of the GMT for a particular crop, GMO, average, GMO takes 13 years and $130 million of research and development before coming to market (https://gmoanswers.com/ask/). From another piece of literature, “GMO Answers”, the cost of generating a new genetically modified crop is $136 million with an average of seven years duration. This is why in developed countries; the private sector is the major driving force for research inv...

 Sitting on a Goldmine: Katsina State Gargantuan Agricultural Potential and Matters Arising By Prof. M. K. Othman Katsina State is the home state to two illustrious sons democratically elected presidents, the former President, the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua of blessed memory, and President Muhammadu Buhari whose two  4-year consecutive tenures winds up on May 29th. Katsina state dubbed as the home of hospitality covers a total land area of 23,938 sq. km and is ranked 7th in total land mass and 6th in population size-. Of the total land resource, 1.6 million hectares of land is under intensive cultivation, while the forest reserve is now mostly bandits' den. The famous Rugu forest was the envy of all due to its rich array of fauna and flora now a dread that only men of the underworld occupy from where they unleash their mayhem on the peace-loving, hapless, and agrarian communities. The other forest, kogo in Faskari LGA, which was recently converted into National Park has been a v...

 Re: President-elect, Tinubu: Rerouting Nigeria’s Pathway to Glory By Prof MK Othman The above title is the most topical issue of recent times. Nigeria is at a crossroads and every Nigerian is eager to have our marching towards a glorious future where we shall all be happy and proud to be. Nobody is contesting the desires of Nigerians to have a vibrant nation converting its huge potential resources into tangible assets for the benefit and goodness of Nigerians and other Africans.  The 3-piece article on the President-elect attracted verities of views from my esteemed readers, which are difficult to share. However, it is important to select a few of such views that critiqued my opinion to give the readers a wider view. Today, I am presenting some edited views on this all-important topic. Happy reading. Prof, this is an interesting article on how to revamp education by the incoming President. My question is what can we do to ensure that graduates of our universities are fully ba...