Abia State is among 23 other states in Nigeria that will benefit from NEWMAP-EIB 175 million Euros erosion funded projects in Nigeria.
Anda Ayuba Yalaks, the team leader and national coordinator of NEWMAP-European Investment Bank funding, disclosed this when he and his team paid a working visit to Alex Otti, governor of Abia State, at his Umuehim country home in IsialaNgwa South Local Government Area.
Yalaks said that his team was in Abia as one of the 23 states in Nigeria benefitting from the funded project to access the erosion sites and ascertain how ready the state is for the projects.
He pointed out that the project, whose objective is to reverse land degradation, has a duration of five years effective from 2024.
He commended Otti for approving and releasing N500 million counterpart funds for the projects, adding that Otti had demonstrated political will to get Abia ready for the project.
“In government, there would be approvals, but there are no releases. But in this case, you have approved and released N500 million.
Permit me Sir, to inform you that under your leadership, and for what you are known to be, you have demonstrated a high level of political will on this project and have ensured that Abia meets all the conditions required,” Yalaks said.
He further described Ikechukwu Ukaegbu, Otti’s choice of the head of the Project Implementation (PIU), as the best.
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Yalaks disclosed that the identified sites in the state were active, expanding at alarming rate, separating communities and threatening livelihoods.
He pointed out some of the causes of the problem were poor road designs and inadequate drainage systems.
He called for more counterparts funding and community engagements for the citizenry to own the projects
Otti assured the team that his administration was ready to increase its counterpart funding, if need be, to put an end to the menace of erosion in the state.
He explained that his administration considers the environmental impact of everything it does, adding that some of the actions in the past are what people are paying for today.
He informed the team that the state could not wait for them before swinging into action to arrest the ravaging impact of a gully erosion site at Ovom Street in Aba.
The Abia chief executive noted that although the team had identified about 57 erosion sites in the state and prioritized 20 sites, the figures were understated because some erosion sites might not be very evident at the moment, but a closer look at them would help discover that they were disasters in the waiting.
“So, we can start with 20, but we hope that you will come again so that we can nip some of these things in the bud.
“I can assure that if we are required to set aside additional counterpart funding, we will do it. The difference in our own administration is that approval is equal to release. We do not approve when we don’t have the funding. As soon as we give the approval, we have the funding ready,” Otti assured.
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