Abuja (Federal Ministry of Water Resources Report) – The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Baba Umar Faruk has disclosed at the opening ceremony of the Technical Experts Meeting preparatory to the Extraordinary Session of the Council of Ministers Meeting in Abuja that Nigeria is set to host the Extraordinary Council of Ministers of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) Meeting on Thursday September 25, 2014 in Abuja to deliberate on issues affecting member states.
According to him, 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.“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 explained.
He further 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.
In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of the Basin, Collins Ihekire (Major General) commended the leadership quality of Nigeria on issues of the Basin, thanking the Minister of Water Resources for her availability and support to the hosting of the session.
He also 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 as well as changes in the implementation of the proposed multipurpose Fomi Dam in Guinea, amongst others.
According to him, the outcome of the Meeting would help the region to promote initiatives and projects that would build areas of economic prosperity and consolidate on the gains already made. He added that this would improve the lives of the people of the Niger Basin.
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