FIC Report (Nasarawa State) – Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has commissioned a set of heavy-duty machines and equipment procured under the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, describing them as critical tools for tackling flooding, erosion and land degradation across the state.
The commissioning of the equipments was held at the premises of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, new state secretariat complex along Shendam Road, Lafia, the state capital.
The event witnessed the handover of a grader, bulldozer, dump truck, low-bed truck, crane and an amphibious swamp buggy to strengthen the state’s capacity for practical environmental interventions, including the dredging of waterways.
The Governor commended the World Bank for consistently rating Nasarawa among the best-performing states under the ACReSAL initiative, and thanked the Ministry of Environment and all relevant agencies for sustaining that recognition.
He said the machines would be deployed for the desilting of blocked waterways, land restoration and dredging, functions the state had previously relied on costly external contractors to perform.
The Governor linked recurrent flooding in communities to human activities such as dumping refuse in drainages and building on waterways, and urged residents to take greater responsibility for protecting the environment around them.
While charging the Ministry of Environment and ACReSAL to engage only competent technical hands to manage the new equipment, Governor Sule used the opportunity to direct for the immediate investigation, dismissal and prosecution of health workers found to have sold hospital equipment, including mattresses and fans, that had been personally procured for a clinic by a member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly representing Umaisha.
He directed the Commissioner for Health to submit a report on the matter without delay, stressing that the affected personnel must be held fully accountable for what he described as an inhuman betrayal of trust.
The Governor assured that the state would acquire more of such equipment before the end of his administration, and called for public cooperation as the machines are deployed across communities.
In their remarks, the Nasarawa State ACReSAL Project Coordinator, Dr. Napoleon Elias, and the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Princess Margaret Elayo, both restated the ministry’s commitment to synergizing with sister agencies to tackle environmental challenges, and appealed for the judicious use and maintenance of the newly commissioned machines as public assets.
Earlier in his address, the state coordinator, ACCReSAL Dr Napoleon Gyobe a part from commending the effort of the state government for partnering world Bank in achieving and sustaining the fight against land depredation to ensure environmental safety, equally assured of more impactful effort in that regards.
Solomon Mundung
EO Information & PRO
Edited By
ARI, LIMAN AMINU
Head of Centre,
FIC, Lafia.
