We’ll do more to implement projects in Niger Basin -Tinubu

ABUJA – IN a bid to combat challenges affecting water resources and food production, President Bola Tinubu, Tuesday, assured the nine member countries of the Niger Basin Authority, NBA, on implementation of its projects and programmes.

Speaking on behalf of Tinubu, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Engr Joseph Utsev, stated this while declaring open the working sessions of the NBA Regional Steering Committee of Projects and Programmes (RSC), and the two Regional workshops on the validation of the Legal documents of the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Fund and sensitization of Policy Makers and End Users on Climate Products and Information from Satellite Data in Abuja.

Utsev who acknowledged the NBA Executive Secretary and his colleagues, for the tremendous work carried out despite the current challenges that many countries of our basin have been facing in recent years, reaffirmed the unwavering support of the Tinubu based on his interest in NBA activities.

The Niger Basin Authority defines its purpose as the promotion of cooperation among member countries to ensure integrated development of resources.

The organisation originally defined its mission as the cooperative management of water resources, most notably, but not limited to, the Niger River. While centering of water and hydroelectric resources, the NBA nations use the organisation to harmonise development of energy, agriculture, forestry, transport, communications, and industrial resources of the member nations.

The NBA has worked to create a “Integrated Development Plan of the Basin”, especially focusing on cross boundary projects.
He said: “I would like to thank the NBA Executive Secretary and his colleagues, for the tremendous work carried out despite the current challenges that many countries of our basin have been facing in recent years.

The member countries of the NBA are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.

He said: “Allow me to also reaffirm here the unwavering support of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, ASIWAJU BOLA Ahmed Tinubu, and his interest in NBA activities, as well as achievements of its projects and programmes in the Niger Basin with regard to the relevance of the activities undertaken and all the satisfactory results achieved.

“These activities are in no doubt, perfectly in line with the strategy to combat poverty and food insecurity. The countries sharing the Niger Basin, solely made enormous investment efforts to preserve natural resources and promote economic and social development.

“Let me also thank our Technical and Financial Partners, particularly the German Cooperation (GIZ & BGR), the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank (AfDB), who have agreed to support NBA. I urge them to continue this support and also inviting other Technical and Financial Partners to join them in order to help us work for the well-being of the people of the Niger Basin.

“It is on this hopeful note that I declare open, the working sessions of the NBA Regional Steering Committee of Projects and Programmes (RSC), and the two Regional workshops on the validation of the Legal documents of the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Fund and sensitization of Policy Makers and End Users on Climate Products and Information from Satellite Data for a better water resources management and adaptation to climate change.”

Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines, the First Secretary, Political Counselor, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to Nigeria, Matthias Dold, disclosed Germany’s pledge of 20 million Euros to support Niger Basin projects in 2024.

According to Fold, his country has support the Basin with 4 million Euros on projects.

“The German Government has supported the Niger Basin Authority last year already with an amount of 4 million Euros and on top of that a new project is about to start which will begin in 2024, and this project will be funded with 20 million Euros for better coordination within the countries of the Niger Basin to make sure the water is used properly, adaption to climate change is done in a good way so that people can make best use of the water”, he said.

Also, the Executive Secretary, Niger Basin Authority, NBA, Abderahim Bireme Hamid, on the sidelines of the workshop, said that, “dams like Kainji, Jebba and Lagdo that are existing and the ones under construction is on our agenda.

“Despite our achievements, we face a lot of challenges. The first challenge is the political situation in the region, particularly what happened in Niger Republic. We also has been sanctioned and it ought not to be so because we are a technical and not a political institution.

“We appreciate the financial and technical support from the German Government, and we have another project funded by the German Government to the tune of 20 million Euros for the population of the Basin.

“We also have another German project on groundwater, which groundwater is being neglected. We need to mobilize for groundwater, especially in the face of climate change.”