The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, says achieving the food security agenda for Nigerians will be possible with adequate water supply and provision of up-to-date hydrological data.
This was revealed in a statement on his familiarization visit, alongside the Minister of State, Alhaji Bello Goronyo, to the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) Headquarters in Abuja.
Utsev stated that achieving the agenda depended significantly on those essentials for planning, executing, and managing water resources and related projects.
He highlighted the pivotal role that NIHSA played in providing hydrological data to mitigate the damaging impacts of floods which had left many Nigerians homeless and destroyed agricultural products worth millions of naira.
The minister pledged to maintain a close working relationship with NIHSA and acknowledged the numerous challenges facing the agency as outlined by the Director General, Mr Clement Nze.
He expressed commitment to address the challenges and maintained the importance of adhering to NIHSA’s predictions, as a means to curb frequent flood occurrences and safeguarding the country’s substantial infrastructure investments.
In his remarks, Goronyo expressed appreciation for the visit and stressed the need for NIHSA’s staff to receive proper trainings, work in suitable environment and enjoy improved welfare.
This, he said, would ensure efficient provision of hydrological data for sustainable planning and design which would immensely benefit farmers and various projects in Nigeria.
NIHSA Director General, Mr Nze Clement, welcomed both ministers and provided insight into the mandate, vision, mission and achievements of the agency.
He highlighted the agency’s challenges and called for the ministers’ intervention to enable NIHSA to fulfill its core mission.
The ministers inspected the Data Bank, the Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing, the Isotope Laboratory, the Modelling Centre and Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA) facilities of the agency.
