The Federal Government, on Friday assured Nasarawa State Government of stronger and effective collaboration to tackle its environmental challenges.
Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi, Minister of Environment, gave the assurance when the traditional ruler of Uke, Karu Local Government Area (LGA), of Nasarwa State, the Yakanape, Dr Ahmad Abdullahi, and some traditional leaders in the area, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Abdullahi, who appreciated the guests, reiterated government’s commitment to addressing the various environmental challenges in the state, and the country at large.
He assured the state of strong support by the ministry, especially the Uke community, in tackling issues of erosion, flooding and other natural disasters in the state.
Speaking earlier, the Yakanape said the purpose of the visit was to congratulate Abdullahi on his appointment as Minister of Environment by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The traditional ruler also said the aim of the visit was to intimate the minister of some of the environmental issues the state was facing,
According to him, the minister’s appointment was an opportunity for the state to efficiently address some of its environmental problems.
“We want the government to come to our aid. We all know the impact of climate change on our environment, so we need the government`s intervention.
“The purpose of our visit is to also establish relationship between the ministry, the state and the entire Uke Community.
“We want the government to come to the aid of the community, and without this kind of visit, the ministry will not be able to have the complete knowledge of what is happening in the state.
“We want the government to look into our environmental challenges such as climate change, erosion, flooding and others.
“In this rainy season, the entire community is not finding the situation easy because of the heavy flooding.
“A lot of communities have been cut off from their various settlements, so we need the intervention of government through the ministry of environment,” Yakanabe said.
He said the team was also planning to visit the Federal Ministry of Works to intimate the ministry of the plight of the community, and to seek for its support in road construction because erosion in the area had damaged the roads.
“The roads need to be upgraded; we want to meet the minister to seek government’s assistance in constructing our roads and bringing more development to the state,” he said.
Also, Mrs Moji Makanjuola, Jakadiya of Uke Kingdom, said the community was happy with the appointment of the minister, and expressed hope that the environmental problems the state was facing would soon be a thing of the past.
Makanjuola, however, called for intervention of government in the area of insecurity, saying farmers in the community needed support from the government to enable them go to their farms without any fear of harassment or threat to their lives.
“We want a situation where farmers can be assisted to work in their farm lands, not just to support them with farm tools, but also to ensure their safety on the farmlands.
“We are pleading with the government for intervention because farming is the major occupation of the people and we want to improve on our farming and take it to large scale.
“So, the farmers are not just farming to feed only the community, but they are farming to ensure the country’s food sufficiency, we need government`s assistance and intervention to achieve this,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the minister`s appointment was announced by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), on April 6.
