Citizens of Rafin Gora, Niger State, will be soon breathing a sigh of relief as the construction of canals that was going on in the region is said to be completed.
Abubakar Sani Bello, the Governor, expressed his satisfaction over the level of work done during an inspection tour of the project sites on Thursday, 5 May.
The project, which is an intervention between the Niger State Government as well as the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project(NEWMAP), is a programme supported by the World Bank meant to restrain ecological challenges in communities suffering yearly gully erosion.
Bello further disclosed that the community had been tormented due to ecological problems, which were leading to the destruction of many homes.
He stated, “Rafin Gora has been plagued by ecological problems; unfortunately, many houses have been lost to ecological problems but with this intervention directed jointly between NEWMAP and the state government counterpart funds, the other houses can be saved.”
The Governor highlighted the requirement to extend the scope of the work in the coming future, although the immediate danger has been addressed.
Bello also expressed optimism that the project would be finished in a period of a few weeks and that it would prevent major disasters in the community.
“I’m happy that they will finish it before the heavy rains. We anticipate serious downpours sometime in June, and we have a window of two to three weeks to finish the project. They had to cease the work for a few months due to banditry attacks, but they are now back to site completely, they work day and night and have made a serious improvement.”
“There is a need to extend the scope of the work, but at the moment, the primary threat has been addressed”, he said.
Sunday Jolaiya, the project’s Resident Engineer, ensured that the project would be finished before the end of next month and would halt the erosion and flood problems experienced by the people.
