By Faridat Salifu
Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda has reaffirmed his government’s readiness to build strong, strategic, and mutually beneficial partnerships with the Republic of Poland across critical sectors, including agriculture, livestock, security, education, mining, technology, culture, and investment.
The governor made the reaffirmation during a recent high-level engagement with the Polish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Michał Cygan, at the Polish Embassy in Abuja, noting that Katsina is determined to move from goodwill to institutional and private-sector driven collaborations.
“Katsina State is an agrarian state, with over 90 per cent of our people engaged in agriculture and the value chain, mostly as smallholder farmers,” Radda said. “We have completed a baseline survey of over 440,000 farmers, capturing their data, land size, and location. This database guides our planning, interventions, and productivity improvement efforts.”
He explained that while the state is investing in mechanisation and farm inputs, additional support is needed in improved seed technology, post-harvest handling, storage, and value addition.
Key crops include maize, millet, wheat, rice, groundnut, cotton, sesame, hibiscus, and soybean. Low productivity is largely due to poor seed quality and weak post-harvest systems, leading to significant losses.
On livestock development, Radda said the state is establishing a modern meat processing plant and adopting global best practices in feedlot and abattoir operations, following recent exposure to large-scale facilities capable of processing up to 2,000 cattle per day.
“These interventions aim to revamp our economy, create jobs, reduce poverty, and strengthen food security,” he noted.
In the solid minerals sector, the governor disclosed that Katsina possesses significant mineral deposits and has engaged German firm Geoscan to complete comprehensive geotechnical and geological surveys.
Relevant mining licenses have been secured, and detailed reports will be shared with prospective partners to guide investment.
On security, Radda highlighted the impact of the Community Watch Corps, which has strengthened intelligence gathering and community-based responses.
Collaboration with conventional security agencies, improved equipment, and logistics has led to a significant reduction in insecurity across the state. He also emphasized preparations for state policing, including modern equipment, drones, surveillance technology, and rapid response capabilities.
In education, the governor recalled existing partnerships with Egypt and China, under which Katsina students study medicine, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology through scholarship programmes.
He expressed readiness to establish similar cooperation with Polish universities through exchange programmes, joint research, staff capacity building, and institutional linkages.
Radda also praised Poland’s participation in Katsina’s cultural events, particularly the Durbar festival, describing the display of Polish traditional attire as a symbol of cultural exchange and shared values.
He welcomed the establishment of a joint technical committee to coordinate engagements, identify concrete areas of cooperation, and facilitate visits by investors, universities, and technical institutions from both sides.
On his part, Ambassador Cygan commended the swift arrangement of the engagement, describing it as a shift from dialogue to action.
He highlighted Poland’s capabilities in security, education, agriculture, energy, information technology, mining, railways, space technology, pharmaceuticals, defence equipment, and food production, noting the country’s diversified $1 trillion economy and population of about 40 million.
The ambassador identified security and education as immediate priority areas and expressed interest in understanding Nigeria’s evolving security architecture, including the prospects for state policing.
Cygan pledged to mobilize Polish and European business leaders, export agencies, and universities to organize a structured delegation and business roundtable in Katsina, aimed at translating discussions into concrete projects.
He said the key outcome of the meeting is the establishment of practical cooperation mechanisms linking institutions, private sectors, and people for sustainable development.
