ACReSAL Has a National Outlook, it Will Remedy Many Ecological Issues in Nigeria – Water Resources Minister

ACReSAL, has a National outlook, it will remedy many ecological issues in Nigeria – Water Resources Minister

The Hon. Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman. H. Adamu FNSE, FAEng has said that the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) will bring solution to many environmental issues in Nigeria, given the National outlook as every region of the country has some kind of ecological challenge.

The Minister stated this when he received the ACReSAL team led by the National Project Coordinator, Mr. Abdulhamid Umar in his office recently.

The minister noted that ACReSAL is a great programme, saying that as someone from the Sahel region, he understands the environmental changes in that region. As such, he will support the implementation of the project in order to reduce the suffering of people living by the corridor of Sahara desert and improve their livelihoods, he noted.

Again, Engr Adamu stated that ACReSAL Project is very germane because three ministries are working harmoniously to deliver on the project development objective. He revealed that there is no way one can separate Agriculture, Environment and Water, and prayed that their successors will show a common belief even at all levels of the ministries to ensure the success of the project for the good of humanity.

The minister congratulated the NPC on his new appointment and advised him to do a risk analysis of issues that are likely to arise from the project implementation across states and devise means of resolving them.

According to the Minister, ACReSAL is an extended version of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) and it was formed after the successes recorded in NEWMAP which many states attested to.

In his address, the NPC formally thanked the Hon. minister and co- chairman of the ACReSAL Federal Steering Committee for his substantive appointment.
He informed the minister that ACReSAL team needs the support of the ministry of Water Resources for effective project implementation.

He stressed that the overall goal is to deliver on the project development objectives and that can only be achieved with the support of the experts in the ministry. The NPC noted that negative effect of climate change across the 19 Northern states and FCT. He said having read through the project documents, the place of water is very paramount, there is need for the most updated hydrological information to help situate the ACReSAL intervention which supposed to be sustainable and repayable.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Engr. Babarinde, director Water Resources Management and Technical Support Services of the federal ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development welcomed and introduced the ACReSAL team to the Hon. Minister. He noted that if ACReSAL project is implemented effectively like NEWMAP, states will be more resilient to climate swing.