Niger Basin authorities meet in Abuja

news24

Abuja - Abuja is hosting the Extraordinary Council of Ministers of Niger Basin Authority (NBA) to deliberate on issues affecting member states.

The Permanent Secretary of Water Resources, Ahlaji Baba Umar Faruk, has presided over the opening ceremony of Technical Experts Meeting, a preparatory event to the Extraordinary Session of the Council of Ministers Meeting.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the mandate of the Niger Basin Authority is to promote cooperation between member countries sharing the active watershed of the River Niger in the areas of energy, water conservancy, agriculture, livestock development, fisheries and fish farming, forestry exploitation, mines, transportation, communication and industry.

He said Nigeria was a pioneer member of the organization and has actively promoted the basin’s natural resources in a sustainable manner based on the shared vision to improve the living standard of the people of the basin.

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“Our acceptance to host this Extraordinary Session of the Council of Ministers to deliberate on issues affecting the member states is a mark of our continuous commitment to the Authority”.

He charged experts to critically review all issues listed in the agenda for the special Extraordinary Session of the Council of Ministers as it would guide and facilitate the Council’s deliberations towards the economic development and management of the basin.

The Executive Secretary of the Basin, Major General Collins Ihekire, commended the leadership quality of Nigeria on issues of the Basin and thanked the Minister of Water Resources for her availability and support in hosting the session.

He explained that the Technical Experts Meeting would discuss and decide on several important documents which include the repeated audit report of accounts for the year 2011, additional budget allocation for the year 2014, changes in the implementation of the proposed multipurpose Fomi dam in Guinea among others.

“The outcome of the Meeting would help the region to promote initiatives and projects that would build areas of economic prosperity and consolidate the gains already made. This would improve the lives of the people of the Niger Basin,” he added.