Sam Kaye
Governor Babagana Zulum has called on the World Bank to allow Borno state to implement sponsored projects from them the way it suits the state.
He made the request when the “task team” leader for the world bank hybrid implementation support mission in Borno state, Dr joy Iganye Agene led her delegation to pay an advocacy courtesy call on him last week.
Zulum regretted that the “Kogi Tifa” project so dear to him was abandoned purely due to lack of corporation coupled with technical disagreements on what dimensions the width of the project should take.
” For agreements to be reached, I want the World Bank to work to ensure efficiency and sustainability of the entire project. Projects should be designed to suit our peculiarities here and not the other way round.
” What are we saying? We are saying 9 metres instead of 3metres width is not feasible to us. We must find a common ground to agree because the money for the project is a loan which we must pay back and not a grant.
” Whoever sits on this seat when I am gone must pay back this loan so we cannot be careless about it at this stage. There is no harm in creating a new design but we must own the project.
“I believe that all projects must be driven by the community because we have both Arid, Semi Arid and humid environments within the state” said Zulum.
The Governor stressed that there was massive “over invoicing” in what he has seen in the project and this phenomenon to him as a trained engineer can kill the very spirit of the people and the entire humanity as it concerns this project.
” We should strive for a common ground however that will ensure that desertification must be dealt with headlong. This phenomenon has affected our people badly and as a matter of fact, it is a major challenge to our people. If you get to Kala Balge, you can drive for 10 km without seeing one tree. That is what I am talking about.
” This is why we must set alternatives standards for firewood for our people who have suffered during this war which has consumed over 300,000 people. They have been so badly affected that they must certainly be given alternatives while we work on the Climatic factors.”
Earlier the task team leader Dr joy Agene told the Governor that there was need for massive landscape restoration in the entire state.
She posited that over 70% of Borno state has been degraded as a result of massive denudation which is why the Governor, Professor Zulum has been appointed as one of the Ambassadors of the project.
The world bank team leader noted that Borno is loosing land to sand dunes and desert encroachment and this should be stopped quickly she stressed.
Agene expressed regrets that only seven states have keyed into the project out of 19 in the north with over a million hectares of land which will be worked on within the region.
“Borno is also part of the stage two states which is why we brought experts to tamper with the engineering on the land for the benefit of the people” she said.
Dr Agene called on the Governor to continue his support of the project which is better completed under the watch of an engineer adding that he had dropped the first N100m that will make the project flourish.
To ensure that residents in rural areas like Ngamdu have fire wood through out the year, woodlots would be established in most of the council areas already establishment.
There would also be Agroforestry plantations to support the communities badly affected by climate change so the people can have permanent cash crops to live on.
And the Borno office will equally support communities to adopt sustainable landscape management practices after the water has been well managed with
concrete drainage channels.
