AUTHORITY – NATIONAL COORDINATING
UNIT OF USERS (NCU) GENERAL
ASSEMBLY HELD AT HARIBINA HOTEL,
ABUJA, NIGERIA BETWEEN
JUNE 8-10, 2014
INFORMAL SESSION
The General Assembly commenced with word of prayer from one of the delegates. The program started with introduction by each delegate and informal session was anchored by Dudu Manuga. Benue State Coordinator highlighted their activities in Benue and stated that each Local Government Areas in the state now have Coordinators. Faith from Rivers State intimated the house on their activities in the state. Dudu from Gombe State stated that they are working with the state government to improve water situation in the state. Ibrahim Usman from Kwara State said that they are in the process of establishing relationship with the state government. Other state coordinators informed members on their activities and challenges.
In another development, Nana said that there is need for NBA-NCU to impress it on the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to partner with NCU and for formal recognition. Abdul Usman from Kaduna State observed that there was need for the General Assembly to comply with the agenda of the day and also said that they are working on engaging the state government on implementing budget on water project in Kaduna State.
Faith from Rivers State noted that there is little acceptance at the grassroots because there is no formal introduction from the federal and state governments.
Dudu however, opined that members should not present themselves to the communities as government agents but rather, the Civil Society Organizations component of the NBA. The session closed with the conclusion that formal letter and advocacy is the best engagement method to be adopted by member organizations.
Delta State Coordinator stated that Niger Basin Authority and Benue–Owena have problem in working together in the state and it is hampering the progress of their work in the state.
Because of the absence of the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and the Niger Basin Authority, it was agreed by the delegates that items that concern the two bodies in the opening session be suspended and move to workshop session.
WORKSHOP
The lead consultant, NBA-NCU anchored the session with the title – Promoting the culture of Transparent, Accountable Natural Resource Governance and Disaster Preparedness in the Niger Basin.
At the opening discussion, he gave background of Niger River Coverage Area. It was established that Niger River is the third-longest river in Africa after Rivers Nile and Congo/Zaire with a total length of about 4, 100 km with about 2, 170, 500 square km basin. It lies over Niger, Algeria, Guinea, Mali, Chad, Benin, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. The Niger Basin River comprises of four distinct sections, namely – the Upper Niger, the Inner Niger, the Middle Niger and the Lower Niger.
It was established that the population of the Niger River Basin was estimated in 2001 at about 106 million persons. Agriculture represents a large part of the Niger River Basin GDP: Crop Production (25-35 percent of GDP), Livestock (10-15 percent) and Fishery (1-4 percent). The main agricultural productions include yam, cassava, millet, plantain, rice, groundnut cocoa and beans.
According to UNDP, the Niger Riparian countries are among the 30 poorest countries in the world except Algeria. More than 70 percent of the people in the Riparian countries live below the poverty line (less than 2USD per day). He established that Africa and Niger Basin Area countries are rich in deposits and natural resources but that people are extremely poor as well because of bad leadership.
The facilitator stated that poverty is rampant in this part of Africa as a result of matters of institutions, governance and infrastructures. Relationship between water and poverty was also highlighted. It was said that the Niger River Basin is characterized by the advanced degradation of the environment caused by human pressure on natural resources and climate changes.
In another session, the facilitator considered the topic – Disaster Prevention and Control: Synergy for Community Preparedness. Flood especially along the River Niger settlement was identified as a recurring phenomenon in Nigeria that as caused several disasters for man, livestock and natural environment. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) was said to be taken appropriate measures through organized community plan for preparedness in order to prevent or reduce impacts of disaster when they occur. Human and economic losses; environmental hazards are greatly reduced when the first cycle (pre-disaster) is taking serious. Expected activities for disaster risk reduction as a community member for pro-active mechanisms were discussed. Community members were said to be engaged via Effective Community Mobilization (ECM) and advocacy. In the concluding part of the workshop, helpful steps that could be taken for an advocacy and sensitization program were discussed.
This was followed by a keynote presentation which was delivered by the President, NBA-NCU, Nigeria, Mr. Hope Ogbeide. He gave background information on the International Niger Basin Authority and how it came into existence in the 1960s and that Civil Society Organizations were brought in much later. He said that Nigeria joined the regional body in 2005/2006 and finally manifested in 2008 after the regional meeting in Burkina-Faso. The network name is NBA-NCU. Nine (9) countries are members of the regional body. In furtherance, Noma narrated the politics at the regional meeting of the NBA-NCU meeting and concluded that basically, Nigeria was schemed out of regional leadership.
Also, it was said that at the last meeting in 2008, the structure was AGM, State Coordinators, Senatorial District, and LGAs but that funds hampered the progress of other structures beside NEC and State Coordinators. There are 3 Vice Presidents – Niger, Benue and Hydro Zones. Other representatives were, water and sanitation, arable farmers, livestock and boat representing thematic areas. At regional level, only five people were said to be members of the executives. He narrated the challenges facing the network leadership e.g. Anglophone – Francophone dichotomy, funding, short-changing in project implementation e.t.c. In his submission, he recommended that the network be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission; open a Bank Account; source for fund especially through, Internally Generated Revenue and engage in membership drive.
After the Presidents submission, Mr. Yacuba Kale, Accountant, Niger Basin Authority from Niger Republic who represented NBA was introduced. He was flanked with another staff of NBA, Mr. Geoffrey. Yacuba extended NBA greetings to NBA-NCU, Nigeria and promised NBAs support to activities of the network in the country.
After NBA representatives address, the delegates went on Tea Break.
SECOND PRESENTATION
Second presentation was facilitated by Mr. Bello. His Presentation dwelt on Construction and Usage of Smokeless Save Energy Stove. It is a stove made from clay and has capacity to carry 2-3 pots at the same time. It is a stove that can be used both indoor and outdoor even in the rain because it is waterproof.
ADVANTAGES OF THE SMOKELESS SAVE ENERGY STOVE