Shehu Abubakar
5 January 2009
Shiroro local government in Niger State is planning to build a tourist resort worth N200 million at Kwata, beside the tail end of the Shiroro Dam. It links up with River Kaduna. However, the council chairman, Mr. Adamu Goggo Erena said he has no plans to develop the fish market.
Mr. Erena who spoke exclusively to Daily Trust said the project which will commence in the first quarter of this year and will be a public/private partnership with one of the commercial banks operating in the area.
He said that his council has no immediate plans of developing the fish market that made the area very popular because majority of the fishermen and those doing business in the area are people that came from other states and have no investment in Shiroro.
"It will be very wrong of my council to use the money meant for the people of Shiroro to develop businesses for people that come from outside Niger state. Some of them are even non-Nigerians and they are not doing anything to improve the economy of Niger state.
"Again, the dam they are fishing in is not under the control of my local government but under the control of the Power Holdings Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The people of Shiroro local government who I am representing are not benefitting from the business going on there," he said.
The council chairman said the fish market at Kwata is not a standard market established by the council but by a group of fishermen and some business men and women. He however, admitted that the Kwata fish market is one of the biggest fish markets in Northern Nigeria.
"The place is supposed to be a tourist attraction area. If you look at the serenity of the area, it is a very interesting place. Seeing the natural environment, the water, the people themselves in their own cultural outfit, you find the place very interesting. It is actually an interesting area.
"It is a place that not only fishes you will see there; you see a lot of things of natural beauty when you go there. In the next four months you will certainly see development in that area. We intend to build Shiroro dam resort even though across the other side. We intend to make it purely African in the physical outlook but by the time you enter, it will be a different thing entirely.
"We intend to expend more than N200 million on that project alone. We intend to attract visitors, tourists, the business class and people from within and outside the country. It is a major project that my council intend to embark upon," he said.
In his own comment, the head of the fishermen of the area, Alhaji Isa (Sarkin Ruwan Zumba) said when the council succeed in executing the planned project of developing a resort in the area, Kwata will not only be a tourist destination but will naturally develop the fish market.
Alhaji Isa recalled that the fishermen in the area cooperated among themselves about 17 years ago and established the fish market at Kwata which use to be a bare land beside the Zumba water which flows from the Shiroro Dam.
"We teamed up among ourselves and constructed a local bridge across the river that we use to connect the communities across the other part of the river especially during dry season. Its location by the bank of this river is really very attractive.
"Now that government has decided to pay attention here and develop the place, it will surely attract businessmen and tourists. Even as undeveloped as the place is now, some white men and Nigerians from Abuja, Minna and other places come here to buy fresh fish," he said.
He urged the local government authorities to reconsider its decision and ensure that a modern market is constructed alongside the resort to accommodate the businessmen and women operating in the area.
Alhaji Isa said while smoked fishes are found in the area only on Saturdays which is the market day at Kwata, fresh ones are sold on a daily basis.
"On each market day at Kwata, we sell both smoked and fresh fish of not less than one million Naira. On ordinary days, when we only deal on fresh fish, we sell fresh fish of not less than N700, 000 daily. Buyers come daily from Abuja, Minna, Kaduna, Jos and most of the Southern states.
"This Zumba dam is linked to Shiroro dam in Niger state and river Kaduna in Kaduna state. The fish you find in this dam are not agric fish; they are natural fish that grows naturally in the water. Buyers patronise us because of the quality of the fish we get here.
"We have over 100 fishermen operating here. We use various techniques in catching the fish. Some use nets, others use hooks but nobody uses poison here. A fisherman in a day can catch fish weighing 120 kilogram of different sizes," he said.
Alhaji Isa also said the fishermen who operate from Garin Nufa, Zagado, Budaruwa, Kirikiri, Dukan Kurya, Rafin Sarkin Fawa na Kwaba, Dakko, Dangunu, Shafana, Ciri and Tungar Lemu smoke some of the fish they catch while the fresh ones are taken to Kwata for sale.
Some of the fishermen that spoke to Daily Trust at Kwata complained that they do not have engine boots to comb the entire dam just as the local canoes they are using are cannot go to the centre of the dam where the bigger fish are found.
A renowned fisherman in the area, Alhaji Maigishiri said, if the local government can source for soft loans for the fisher men in this area to buy engine boats and modern fishing implements, fishing activity will certainly improve here.
Another, Malam Yakubu mai Koma who disagreed with the position of the local government on the issue of the development of the fish market, noted that the fishermen and the fish dealers operating in the area are paying the required tax to both the state and the local government revenue officials.
"If the local government build a standard fish market for us here, it will be for everybody. None of us will take it away when we are going. That will even improve their revenue because I know they will require us to pay more revenue when a market is built," he said.
A fish merchant, Mrs Funmilayo Adeoye said she goes to the market twice every week from Abuja and buys fresh fish worth N500,000 to N1 million on each trip. She said she supplies some restaurants and sell some in the open markets in Abuja.
"The fish you find here is the best," she said. "People like this fish. They rush it whenever I return to Abuja. The fish you find in Abuja is the agric fish. People do not like it so much. If government can build a modern fish market here and provide a cold room, the fishermen will make it.
"I know of some women and even men that come from Ibadan, Kaduna and Jos to buy smoked fish to go and sell. Anywhere you take this fish to, people would like it because the fish is of high quality. Most of the fish you find here is the one they call 'giwan ruwa' which is rear elsewhere," she said.
Kwata which is a bare land that lies at the bank of the Zumba dam is independent of all the settlements and villages around the area. It lies about a kilometre away from the main road leading to Shiroro dam and about 2 kilometers away from the nearest riverine community in the area.
A marine police team was also seen patrolling the area in a speed boat while people from the neighbouring communities on board various canoes and engine boats troop to the area for business and recreation purposes.
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