Insecurity hampering Niger Basin dev’t – Executive secretary

The Executive Secretary, Niger Basin Authority, (NBA), Dr Toupta Boguena, has lamented that insecurity is hampering the execution of programmes in the area. She said the rise in insecurity was posing a challenge towards improving the living conditions of people benefitting from the region. The executive secretary spoke at the opening of the extraordinary session […]

The Executive Secretary, Niger Basin Authority, (NBA), Dr Toupta Boguena, has lamented that insecurity is hampering the execution of programmes in the area.
She said the rise in insecurity was posing a challenge towards improving the living conditions of people benefitting from the region.
The executive secretary spoke at the opening of the extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers in Abuja.
She explained that the insecurity could also be linked to unemployment in the region.
She said the authority was working at the implementation of the operational plan to provide jobs for youths in the region in agriculture, livestock, fishery and conservation.
Boguena said there was the need for the nine member countries to strengthen collaboration to promote the vision of the basin.
The executive secretary lamented that drought and population increase were part of the causes of depletion in the river basin, saying efforts were on to preserve the region to enable it meet its full potential.
She said the challenges of an increasing population growth and climate change within the region have become imperative to scale up strategies and policies in order to ensure better livelihoods for the region’s populations.
Besides, she said, the projects and programmes implemented by the secretariat were an integral part of the priorities set by NBA member countries in controlling the degradation of the environment of the Niger Basin and in fighting poverty.
The executive secretary said she was convinced that the results of NBA’s work would enhance the trust of partners and member countries and open new opportunities for resource mobilisation arising from the efficient implementation of projects.