The Nigerian government, in collaboration with the World Bank Group, has launched the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, to address environmental challenges in Nigeria’s Northern region.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a report quoted the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi, at the pre-launch Mission of the World Bank on Sunday in Abuja, as saying that the implementation of the project will last for between five and six years.
Giving Nigerians assurance that the project would be effectively implemented and that the documentations on the project would be forwarded to the World Bank as soon as possible, Abdullahi maintained that with the collaboration of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Water Resources and also the World Bank support, the objectives of the project would be achieved.
According to him, the project is very crucial to government’s efforts aimed at addressing water stress system and restoring the loss lands, thereby making the lands reproductive for agriculture in the region.
Abdullahi further explained: “The project will as well tackle environmental challenges such as climate change, erosion system, biodiversity, among others.
“We thank the world bank for initiating this project, and I am assuring you that from the Ministry of Environment, we will do all the best we can to implement the project.
“We will ensure that the political will to drive this project, in accordance with the mandates and its objectives, are achieved. We are going to make sure that various governors at the state levels deliver on the objectives of the project.
“I have instructed the national project coordinator to ensure that all the documentations that are needed by the World Bank to declare the effectiveness of the project, reach the world bank latest by April 15”, the minister added.
Also, he hinted that the ministry had established a project tracker system to enhance the achievement of the project’s objectives and urged all the governors, commissioners and other relevant stakeholders to support in the implementation of the project through strong cooperation and commitment.
In his remarks, the World Bank Group’s Country Director to Nigeria, Mr. Shubham Chaudhuri, promised that the Breton Woods institution would continue to support Nigeria to ensure that the objectives of the project was achieved.
The banker said: “The World Bank team remained committed in this project, but I want to appeal to governments at all levels to ensure that the team and other people in the field are protected.
“The government should ensure that all kinds of insecurity is tackled in the areas to enable people concentrate and do the job effectively”, Chaudhuri added.
Speaking on behalf of other governors, Nasarawa State Governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, expressed optimism that the project would benefit all the people in the states by tackling poverty and environmental challenges in the benefitting states.
He enthused: “We are happy and grateful to have this laudable project that will curb poverty and address environmental challenges in our state.
“We as governors, will ensure that we support the world bank team and the Federal Government in ensuring that insecurity is tackled efficiently in the states”, the governor added.
