By Dwelleth Morountodun
The Permanent Secretary, Ecological Project Office (EPO), Mr. Shehu Ibrahim, has stated that the Office will continue to spread its intervention projects fairly to benefiting communities to avoid bickering amongst states within the same geo-political zones, adding that EPO encourages synergy with the States and Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the use of their ecological fund allocations to address the ecological challenges bedeviling the country.
He stated this when he received on separate courtesy visits, Mohammed Ndarani SAN, in company of others and a delegation from Veritas University led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Hyacinth Ichoku at the EPO Headquarters in Abuja recently.
He said their requests for intervention have been captured in the Office’s databank which is usually the preliminary intervention procedure and said it is ‘a good step in the right direction and a work in progress’, stating that appropriate actions will be taken based on their merits.
The Permanent Secretary commended the Vice Chancellor and his team for their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to the Bwari Community for providing a transformer, borehole, Police post, and equipping the vigilante group to beef up the security in the community.
He said it was a proactive step not to only assuage the community but to also give them a sense of belonging.
Speaking earlier, Ndarani commended EPO for prompt response to his letter of requests and appealed for quick intervention to the ravaging ecological challenge in his community of Vinchi and other surrounding communities in Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State.
He said the situation was beyond their capacity, hence the passionate appeal to the Federal Government through EPO for assistance.
Ichoku, on his part also appealed to EPO for quick intervention in the erosion menace around the University and the Bwari community to avoid the degeneration of the situation, stating that the erosion challenge has not only threatened the university complex but also the entire Bwari community. He disclosed that the university had involved in minor remedial works to tackle the situation but that the deep gully erosion threat was beyond its capacity.
The Vice Chancellor further informed of the University’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the Bwari Community to include: the provision of transformers, boreholes, police post and equipping of the vigilante group to beef up the security in the area.
The Director, Pollution Control EPO, Mr. Clinton Igwe and Director, Soil Erosion and Flood Control, Malam Abubakar Takuma, had also explained that the Office does not have the resources to attend to all the requests from the states and advised that Nigerians should also channel their requests to their state governments for intervention.
