Three-day Workshop on Niger Basin Authority visibility begins in Lokoja on Friday

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The Hon Minister for Water Resources, Mrs Serah Ochekpe has organized a Three-day sensitization workshop for stakeholders on Niger Basin Authority/National Focal Structure (NBA-NFS) visibility in Nigeria.
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The workshop started on Wednesday 17 to end today Friday 18 Sept. 2014, held at Hill Top Hotel in Lokoja, Kogi state capital.

The Hon Minister was represented by the National Coordinator NBA/NFS and Director, Planning, Research and Strategic, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs Laraba Bagaiya.

In her address, she said the workshop was organized to sensitize the public on the visibility of NBA programmes and activities in Nigeria, particularly the communities within the basin.

She explained that the workshop would create awareness on the current efforts of the Word Bank at rehabilitating Kainji and Jebba dams aimed at increasing their power generation to maximum capacities.

Laraba further expressed that these two major projects of NBA are located within the basin and the rehabilitation works have commenced on them.

She enumerated other projects and programmes currently executing by NBA within the basin to include; The NBA/GEF project; The Niger-Hycos project; The Silting Control Programme in the River Niger Basin (SCP/RNB); among others.

“The NBA institutional and organizational reform gave birth to the expansion of the National Focal Point by involving all stakeholders in the basin to take care of their interests in the development of the numerous projects/programmes.

“Accordingly, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, which serves as the National Focal Point of NBA activities in Nigeria, has constituted a committee of the NBA/NFS. The composition of the National Focal Structure in Nigeria took cognizance of relevant stakeholders with activities in the Basin.

“The Niger Basin Authority is one of the important trans-boundary water authorities to which Nigeria belongs, the other being Lake Chad Basin Commission. Nigeria plays the leading role in both and contributes the lion’s share of their budgets.

“The overriding concern regarding the River Niger is access to its waters by the countries along its basin, and efficient use of its water for economic activities, power generation, agriculture, fishing, communication and other useful activities are of the highest interest to Government.

“The basin covers a surface of about 2.2 million square kilometers, spanning from Guinea to the coast of Nigeria with 4200km Long River, crossing seven agro-climate zones, with four big hydrological sub-basins,” she stated.

Labara added that the huge investment programme of the NBA was designed at developing the socio-economic infrastructure and capacity building, aimed at optimizing water resources management in the Niger Basin in order to improve the living standard of over 30 million people living along the river Niger.

“Nigeria’s interest and concerns in regards to the NBA are far more fundamental than any other member country. It holds 88% of the total population of the Niger Basin, and occupies a total area of 33% of the contiguous landmass.

“Our energy resources largely depend on the flow of the River Niger, and we have built about ten large medium size dams on the River. We have also expended considerable amounts in dredging about 572km of the River so far,” said the Director.

NBA is one of the oldest African Inter-Governmental Organizations, composed of nine (9) member States which are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and its Headquarters in Niamey, Republic of Niger.

She urged all the stakeholders to see the mission as clarion call to support and participate actively in NBA activities as well as protecting its investment within their areas.

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