Nigeria establishes Presidential Summit and timelines for implementation of recommendations on water.

[FMINigeria]

                        Following the success of the just-concluded presidential summit on water with the theme, "Innovative funding of the water Sector", the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has held a meeting with the Commissioners for water resources from the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to review recommendations, issues and deliberations arising from the summit.

Declaring the meeting open in Abuja, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe said that the purpose of the meeting was to examine the various recommendations made at the last Presidential summit on water, set targets and established time lines for the full implementation of the identified activities and challenges noted during the summit.

According to her, "As political heads in the water sector, each of us represent the mouthpiece of not only the government but also a significant proportion of the population of Nigeria and therefore we should be the vanguard and champion for the improvement of water supply and sanitation in the country", the Minister asserted.

Ochekpe lamented that despite the fact that the Federal Government had invested huge resources on the water sector, yet some Nigerians still do not have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, hence the ongoing efforts to enhance national capacity in the operation and management of water supply in the country.

"All hands must be on deck to improve the situation through enhancing national capacity in the operation and management of water supply and sanitation to ensure   availability and affordability to water supply and sanitation services to our citizens", she said.

The Minister tasked the commissioners from the States to study critically the challenges of power supply to the operations of water works in their various States, adding that the issue of water is fast becoming an economic matter that requires effective management.

Amongst other issues discussed during the meeting was the recommendation that each of the federating states should commit not less than 5% of their annual budget to the water sector, the cost sharing formula between Federal and States in water projects execution, introduction of tariff on water investments and developing institutional frame work to empower small scale irrigation projects.

The highlight of the meeting was the setting up of a committee that would put together various resolutions agreed to at the meeting which in turn would be presented to the Nigeria Governors' Forum and the National Economic Council for implementation.

Members of the committee which cut across the six geo- political zones and include  Directors of the Federal Water Resources Ministry comprised commissioners from Oshun, Ebonyi, Niger, Taraba, Rivers and Zamfara States, while Directors of the Federal Ministry to serve on the committee were, Engineer Benson Ajisegiri, Engineer Danjuma Madaki, Gerard Osuagwu and Professor Dimis Mailafiya.

Via: Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria

[FMINigeria]