By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – THE Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Engr Joseph Utsev, Monday, disclosed that Nigeria and other member countries of the Niger Basin Authority, NBA, have built resilience in communities under the Niger Basin-ITTAS Project against pollution from their waters, and environment.

Utsev represented by the Director, Water Resources Planning and Technical Support Services at the Ministry, Adeyinka Adenopo, in a welcome remark to kick-off the workshop for member countries on experience sharing said with achievements recorded by the project salient issues would be discussed by member countries.

Also on the sidelines of the workshop he declared open, he said two communities in Nasarawa State have been trained on climate resilience.

The Niger Basin-ITTAS Project was launched in 2019 as a development initiative focused on the Niger River Basin, and basically to promote sustainable development, improve water resource management, and enhance ecosystem conservation in the Niger River Basin, and enhancing the capacity of local communities, governments, and regional organizations to manage the basin’s resources effectively.

The nine countries are in West and Central Africa: Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Guinea, Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Côte d’Ivoire.

He said: “During this period, participants who are drawn from the 9 member countries of the NBA, would have the opportunity to share the lessons learned from the implementation of NB-ITTAS project activities, document experiences as well as disseminate and communicate best practices.

“In Nigeria, we have been able to train the communities, we have been able to train them in terms of climate resilience, we have been able to train them in terms of aquaculture, and of course protecting them against pollution of the ecosystem. So these are some of the things we are doing and are still ongoing at the Ayele-Iggah/Akpanaja Communities of Nasarawa State.”

Meanwhile, the Minister said the activities carried out from 2019 to 2021 were the subject of a mid-term evaluation, “which revealed constraints linked to implementation and recommended an initial extension of the project for 18 months.

“At the end of the 18 months, the representatives of the nine NBA member states meeting at the 4th Session of the Steering Committee made a special recommendation to extend the project deadline, initially scheduled for December 04, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

“During this period, the project implemented a number of activities with expected results and products in four NB-ITTAS project components.”

Meanwhile, the acting Executive Secretary, NBA, Zinsou Didier, represented by the Director, Technical, NBA, Adamou Ibro, said based on the commitment to the execution of the project beneficiary communities have been able to contain the pollution. He also appealed to communities “to own this projects and make this projects theirs.

“Beyond these field-level interventions, the NB-ITTAS project has supported studies aimed at strengthening national policy frameworks and legislation, particularly regarding pollution control in the Basin.

“The project has also facilitated the establishment of three regional and seven national platforms to promote coordinated management and governance of shared ecosystems across borders.”

Meanwhile, following the importance of the project, he acknowledged that the workshop is imperative as “to reflect on successes, identify remaining challenges, and agree on practical strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of these initiatives.”

Also, the National Focal Structure Coordinator, Angela Kayode, noted that the NB-ITTAS project is pivotal to the source of relief and survival for the millions people who depend on the Basin’s resources, therefore, the workshop is very cardinal as it provides a platform for sharing experiences, exchanging lessons learned, and sustaining achievements recorded so far.

According to Kayode, NBA received a grant from the Global Environment Facility to support the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management, IWRM, aimed at enhancing ecosystem resilience and community wellbeing.

“While the Convention Agreement was signed in 2018, project activities began in earnest in 2019.

“An in-depth assessment of beneficiary communities showed varying levels of success, underscoring the need for continued dialogue and knowledge sharing.”