By Asma’u Ahmad
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Usani Uguru Usani, has urged the five governors in the Niger-Delta region to pay up their counterpart funding to enable them access the European Union (EU) N2.4 billion water project grant.
Mr. Usani made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
According to him, if the five states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers failed to pay the required 30 per cent counterpart funding, they will lose the grants.
He said that the initiative, under the aegis of the Niger Delta Support Programme (NDSP), had been ongoing for some time but needed to be sustained.
Mr. Usani Uguru Usani
“NDSP was designed to be implemented from 2013 to 2017. It is to mitigate the conflict in the region by addressing the main causes of unrest and violence, bad governance, youth unemployment and poor delivery of basic services,” he said.
According to the minister, the EU had signed a five-year contribution agreement to boost rural water project in the Niger Delta region.
He therefore appealed to the affected state governors to ensure that they meet up their counterpart funding to avoid losing the grant before January 12, 2017.
Mr. Usani said the project was important as it is expected to contribute to conflict mitigation in the region by improving access to basic social services.
“This project will support the state governments and the rural water sanitation institutions in the five states to develop and implement needed reforms in the sector. It will also deliver sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene services within communities and schools,” he said.
