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FG okays N.5bn for erosion,
desertification
LERE OJEDOKUN,
Abuja
PRESIDENT
Olusegun Obasanjo has approved the release of N500 million to tackle the menace
of erosion in the South- East and desertification in the northern part of the
country.
To this end, a presidential committee on
erosion control and desertification had been set up, under the chairmanship of
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, to bring about government’s intervention in
states and communities being ravaged by ecological problems.
The Vice-President stated these yesterday
when a delegation of the Igbo speaking community in Lagos, led by its
president-general, Chief Uche Momah, paid him a solidarity visit at the State
House.
The Vice-President who responded to
requests made by the group, noted that the South-East zone deserved just and
fair treatment by the government because of its support to the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and the administration.
In demonstration of this, he said priority
attention would be given to erosion and flood control as well as the provision
of basic infrastructure in the zone.
"I want to also assure you that we will
look into the issue of erosion and flood control in some parts of the country
where you have requested us to look, particularly in Lagos and in the Eastern
states," he pledged.
While describing as exemplary, the
election of a Kogi State indigene as the chairman of Ojodu local government in
Lagos State, he said the country needed this type of accommodation to strengthen
our continued corporate existence.
The Vice-President who commented on the
indigene/settler problem which has recently crept into the polity, said that the
administration frowned strongly at the issue.
According to him, its proponents were
trying to use the concept to cause confusion and chaos, insisting that every
Nigerian has the right to live wherever he or she chooses and could aspire to
any height.
Earlier, Chief Momah had commended the
administration in the areas of road rehabilitation, water provision,
telecommunications, anti-corruption and fight against fake and adulterated
drugs.
He, however, appealed for speedy
consideration of the proposed dredging of the River Niger and construction of
the Second Niger Bridge.
Aside, he urged government to reconsider
its stance on the withheld monthly allocations of the five states which created
and conducted election into new local governments.
Chief Momah further called for immediate
peaceful resolution of the political crisis in Anambra State and recent face-off
between Lagos State government and Federal Ministry of Works.
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