·Governor seeks EU’s partnership to end illegal migration.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he timely payment of counterpart funds for European Union (EU) projects and the timely implementation of the projects in Edo State by the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration, received commendation on Monday in Benin City.The leader of a delegation of the European Union on Niger-Delta Support Programme (NDSP), Mr. Kurt Cornelis, said his team was impressed with the high level of commitment of the Edo State Government to the execution of projects under the NDSP and urged other governors to emulate Obaseki.
L-R: Lanre Opanubi, National Authorizing Officer (NAO), Ministry of Budget and National Planning; Albert Actiten, Head of the Niger-Delta Support Programme (NDSP); Kurt Cornelis, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Nigeria and Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, during a working visit by the EU-NDSP team members to the Governor at the Government House in Benin City on Monday, August 28, 2017
“Your government is really implementing the proposed reforms in water management, and that is a positive aspect and it is very commendable as well as encouraging,” Cornelis added.
In his response, Obaseki said there was the need to ensure synergy between his administration and the EU on the Niger-Delta Support Programme (NDSP) to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts and guarantee sustainability in water and sanitation as well as in checking illegal migration.
“We must get our donor agencies to work together with us to avoid duplication and waste and ensure that those programmes are tied to our internal programmes and to enable us provide more services for the people,” Obaseki said.
He stressed that he was aware that funding to check the challenge of illegal migration was available and added that his administration was reforming its processes to access the fund and create more opportunities in the state to discourage people from going down the tortuous path of illegal migration.
