_D_A1L_ .__Y __TR __U __ST _____Th __U~ __._~_~_M __n_._2m_.__________________________________________ ~ environment@dailytrust.com HOTLINE: 08068701960
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IErosion control requires patience, a lot of funds' The Ecological Fund is an intervention agency initiated' by the Federal Governrnent towards corn bating the ecological problerns in the country. In this j-' 2rview, Dr MacJohn Nwaobiala, the Perrnanent Secretary in charge ofthe fund speaks to our reporter on the operations and challenges facing the fund. By Alex Abutu
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11AT il. your au~n men l of the Eco logical Fu nd in addrcu~
ing the ecological challenges fadng the (nUllifY! ~mC'Onc
recently askni me
the question of how do I useu my!tt!U "
the manager of the
~olo81Ca1 fund. What I an 53)' i~ tholl we \¥;tnt 10 do things dif
(cr(,lIlIy. For mstance, we want SC'C how the proJect we fund can be handled in !.he moS! efficient illlld professionoal mannu. U)
Secondly, we want to el1.§urt' that there u. iii linkage Ind collilboralion I.Ic1wccn the FedenJ Goyernment andSI;lIl"S and the IoG1 governments because thl!Se projects arc Siltuled in the communities, so our
Wish I) 10
ensure that syn-
ergy Mtween the thra: lim of govt'rnment which Is very impoct;tnL You know, though \o'e have txc'Cllllng agencies, there Ife sull Challenges m the Ecological Fund Office; we ha\'C both tcc.hniGI and admtnlStrall\'e staff and one' of the thmp We' are dam aurin! for u; to budd the Gpadty of the staff so that the'Y Gn be' able' to design and mOllltor the various projects We' are e'lC'Cuting, Already, we are discussing with the' World Bank and this wUJ ensure thai at least 35 of our staff arc trained In this regard. This will equip us With the n«esury manpowcr 10 stick to ~t Pl'1lctice!o in Ihe execullon of our proJec1SAnolhe'r major challenge f.Kmg the fund IS that ordelays in Ihe payme'nt of contl'1lClors. We' want toacknowlcdge' that in proccmng their payme'nts, Ihe're' arC' de'lays and the'Sor arC' the' iMUC'S We' allhe' fund are' looking al in a holmlc ma.tllli!r 50 as to proffer solutions Immedl2oldy, We' arulsodtsirous ofhavmg a data base thai is loCCUrale so thai should an)'One want any data indudlng cost al any lime, wllh a dlde. of the button you can have dala on our eXpC'fldilures, local ion and numlxr of siltS an)- day, any time. The'Sor are the things we want to aduC"Ve. So we mighl nOI liay we are' doing too well or 100 good bUI the(C' arC' ch .... lenges which we arC' delermlntd 10 overcome.
s
o, b the fund bdng reo rganiseM . If re-0!'Kamsing will make the fund mOTt' effective, one wouldn't have any obJI'i: lIOn 11.1 Ih .. t iUld when )"OU U) re
organising. In·terms uf ho" .... e do dungs, holo. can I<.'e filSt track our opn:iIuons, how CoIn the fund Inlerface wtth Slates and I ,I go\'ernmenu 10 also know .... hal Ihe)· are dOlllg With Ihe fund~ they arc gelling from the federal govemment. )'Ou know these arc conslituuonal iSSUes but we want 10 rciale with the slates so thai al each point in lime, weean wylhls ilo where the SlillCII are In address ing tbeir ecological challenges.. We arc abo lookingat our database. There are a lot of proJecls across the country and because we also r«elve a 101 of requcst.s, a funclional database will help us pnonusc tho~ proJCCls. This is my own Idea of rt-organism8 the fund and Ihts 15 very Important because IllS an intervention fund domu.::i1cd under Ihe' PrCSldent and it is only the President that gwcsappmvaJ for pmj«b thai arc \0 bcfundcd,so il is important for lito remam under the I'rcsidelllto add~ emergency ascs.
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hat other sourccs
arc there for the
FG 10 fund ecological inten·cntions! What comes to the fund from the FG is 1.4601ll of the 3 percent. BUI one thing we have obscrved is that there is a lot of demand on Ihat 1.46, The states are as.king for it, the local governments. communities and even IIldividuals arc asking fOf iL The're is a strong demand. now we have the MlnistryofEnvitonmenl and if you ask me, I WIll u~1l you tbilihe' ministry has not been given the prominence that il deserved both m terms of visibilily and budgeting. If the budgets of mlnislries collaborating 00 ecological problems arc enhanced. then the demands on the ecologkal funds would be reduced and ....·e can adequalely handle the requests we have. Ilow 5eriou.s is the ecological problem bdngNigeria? II is very serious.. It is very ~ere, becau$C if you look al 1\ critically, the whole of South East is under serious Ihreal of erosion while northern Nigcrtll is batLling with desertification and we are seemg that deser1ifi calion is gl'lldually crccpmg hlto the: South becii~ Oflhcil~nce of forest cover In the North and the IfIcrcasing demand for fuel \>'ood In thC'Nonh wllIstiUl muv mg to theSoulh. So il is a SCrtUW problem but I also believe Ihal II
i.$ not Just siong and Implementation of pmj«ts: we need to CRaie aWlrC'nesson thesllUllltkmllnJ ~ Nigenans 10 change theu attitude. It is importlfltthcy s« Ihe environment as par' oflbelr responslbihtics.lrNigerians b«ome more conscious about their t:nvlmnmem and do thlngli that prolect the enVIronment, government would spend less on «ologla! problems..
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urrent ly does Nigeria have stalistlcs on e1Oliioll ami olher ecological chall ent;eli we tare facing! We have done a cornpuhenS!ve mapping of Nigeria and thlt: ecological Situation and the data IS available but the only Ihrng IS that we h,lYe not dlsscmmalcd ii, we have not populansed It bUlthe data IS here. We hne ~ the dala
to show people the siluallon on the ground; where you have fluh points iUld other crilical arca~ 10 draw attentIOn 10. hal Is the sit uati on with the Presldelltial Iniliatins on Afforestation? We ha~'l! completed the first phase and that is raising over a mil lion IrcC' seedJmgs in each stale of the fc!dcration including tht FCT A 101 of issues came out oCthe flrst ph~ Wt want to U$l!: tnc lesson l~t from that phase 10 phlO and elecute the initiative. \Ve art: now movlOg InlO Ihe sccond phase and we nave started discussmg with stal~ on how to work OUI the modahLICli of dlstnbullng the seedlings. TherC'artcommumtlCS, NGOs that iUt'aslung fortheSC'Cd· hng~_ I thmkby the lime we SIMI
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dlSl.nbutlng aU of them it wtil make 1101 of difference. Howmum iJ the FfdcnIGcn'· emment committins tD Ihe initialin? I can't gIVe you th ' ClI3ct fig· UI"C nOl<o but I kmn .. 1'\iI1 a lot of money went 1010 I( _ -,e:venJ btIliomofn;un. ow mild has the fflIeral (i(n-ernmcnl spt'Dt 011 ecological intervenliollsillcc 19'19? Since 1m? II i~ nOI poUible for me to give you lhat figure but the figure 15 ava!lable both from the Federal Ministry of Finance and lhe Account:mt GenenJ's Office. All ouracCounUi acedom· iclled With the Ccnllill Uank of Ntgerta, 50 J can't gi.r: rou the IImOllnt butlhere art IVliJbbie at Ihae placts..
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