FG CALLS FOR MORE EFFORTS AT ACHIEVING ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC SECURITY

The Minister of Environment Mallam Ibrahim Usman Jibril has advocated more efforts at achieving environmental and economic security.

He made the call in a message to the second mid-term review of the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP, taking place at NIKE Lake Resort, Enugu.

The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP, is a World Bank project supporting Federal Government’s efforts in addressing challenges of erosion and land degradation, with particular interest in reducing vulnerability to ravaging gully erosion in targeted watershed.

The project which began with intervention in seven States as the pilot States at present had nineteen States as beneficiaries including Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Edo, Cross River, AkwaIbom and Gombe.

Speaking on the occasion, the representative of the Minister of Environment and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Shehu Ahmed said that the project had recorded some successes across the seven pilot States.

He however noted that the second mid-term offer got another opportunity for amendments and modifications that could guarantee more successes.

Declaring the event open, the Enugu State Governor, Chief IfeanyiUgwuanyi described NEWMAP as a timely intervention in erosion management in the country especially in the South-East.

He expressed the hope that ideas to be generated from the roundtable conference would be of immense benefit to the environment and the occupants.

 Earlier, the Team Task Leader of NEWMAP, Dr Amos Abu said the project which was in its fourth year of implementation had recorded some notable landmarks, though, not without challenges which the second mid-term review was aimed at addressing.

 In a presentation, a resource person, Dr ObiefunaAneneAnyadiegwu listed deforestation, improper environment and social assessment during road construction and laterite mining as major issues that impacted negatively on the environment especially in the South-East.

Dr Anyadiegwu called for the resolution of some issues around NEWMAP implementation in Imo State to avoid wastage of the fund already invested.

Stakeholders in environment from the six geo political Zones of the country, representatives of Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the World Bank are attending the programme.

The World Bank has so far approved five hundred million dollars for the NEWMAP project with additional one billion naira being expected by March, 2018.

CHINWE CHUKWU