Environment Minister Seeks Inter-Agency Collaboration to Tackle Environmental Challenges
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, has called for strengthened inter-agency collaboration as a critical strategy to address Nigeria’s growing environmental challenges, particularly in dam-affected and hydro-basin communities across the country.
Lawal made the call while receiving the Director-General of the National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), Abubakar Sadiq, and his entourage during a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.
The minister identified climate-resilient water supply and sanitation (WASH) as a key area of partnership, noting that coordinated efforts would ensure year-round access to safe, reliable and clean water as well as improved sanitation services in communities impacted by hydro-electric dams.
He stressed that such collaboration would significantly boost access to safe drinking water and reduce the prevalence of water-borne diseases in affected areas.
In a press statement signed by the Director of Information and Public Relations of the ministry, Ibrahim Haruna, Lawal also highlighted energy-saving clean cooking initiatives as another priority.
He explained that the distribution of clean cooking stoves to households in hydro-basin communities would drastically reduce household energy poverty, curb deforestation and lower harmful emissions through the adoption of energy-efficient cooking technologies for homes and agro-processing clusters nationwide.
Other proposed areas of collaboration between the Ministry of Environment and N-HYPPADEC include erosion and flood management, ecosystem restoration, climate-resilient afforestation programmes, youth and community engagement, job creation and enhanced public awareness on environmental sustainability.
In his remarks, N-HYPPADEC Director-General, Abubakar Sadiq, described the commission as a strategic partner to the Federal Ministry of Environment in addressing environmental and developmental challenges in hydro-power producing areas of the country.
He outlined several impactful interventions already undertaken by the commission, including projects in water supply and sanitation, housing, youth empowerment, water transport safety and institutional strengthening.
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Sadiq also commended the minister and his team for their timely flood warnings and swift responses to erosion- and flood-prone areas, as well as efforts in pollution management across the country.
N-HYPPADEC currently operates offices in Lokoja, Birnin Kebbi, Ilorin, Lafia, Jos, Gombe, Jalingo, Makurdi and Kaduna, with its headquarters located in Minna, Niger State.
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