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African Development Bank spends N384 billion on Nigeria’s water development

By BusinessNews Staff on October 20, 2013

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said that it has spent about $2.4 billion (N384 billion) in Nigeria on water development.

Andy Mensah, an official of the bank, disclosed this in Lagos at a dialogue to mark the visit of a Netherlands warship, HNLMS Rotterdam.

Mensah said that the warship is in Nigeria for the “Exercise African Winds’’, which is part of the ongoing African Partnership Station (APS) initiative.

“In water management, the AfDB investment runs into about $700 million per annum in Nigeria alone,” he said.

“This amounts to about 2.4 billion dollars that the bank has spent in supporting the Nigerian government in water development.”

“There is need for public/private partnership because the government cannot do it alone to support and help water resources.

“Although AfDB has not been directly involved in flood management, it has responded to issues such as the Fadama project,” Mensah added.

John Groffen, the Dutch Ambassador to Nigeria, said that the Netherlands’ enormous experience in the water management would be handy in combating flood in Nigeria.

“As we have battled water for centuries, it is logical that we should share this expertise abroad, and in this case, with Nigeria,” Groffen told journalists after the dialogue.

“We have already gained so much expertise abroad fighting floods, including the one at New Orleans and New York after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy respectively.”

“In 1953, the great flood in our country which caused the death of about 2,000 people was a wake-up call, and we had since then determined that it would never happen again.”

“We want to replicate such solutions in Nigeria without waiting for disasters of such magnitude to prompt us to act,” he said.

Samuel Ome, the Director, Water Quality Control, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said there was a need for a real time monitoring of the river system.

He said this was necessary “to get the behaviour of the water’’ and forecast for the future.

“The core job of the ministry is real time monitoring of the river system, forecasting of the future, tackling flooding disaster, especially in the angle of health and hygiene, because the water quality becomes contaminated after any occurrence of flooding.”

“During this period, we strive to reduce the risk of water-borne diseases occasioned by the floods. We partner with emergency stakeholders in this regard.”

“The ministry is working on long-term measures for building dams. Although the average construction of a large dam takes seven years, the ministry has put working measures in place,” Ome said.

He debunked allegations that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had not been carried along, adding that there was a need to enlarge the dialogue to involve all stakeholders.

Speaking also, the Commanding Officer, HNLMS Rotterdam, Captain Hubb Hulsker, said the exercise was for diplomatic reasons, particularly to further trade and commerce.

[Nigerian Telegraph]

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