By Sam Otuonye 

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has expressed readiness to strengthen its partnership with environmental journalists to improve public awareness on Healthy Environment, water resources management, flood forecasting, early warning systems and other hydrological issues affecting Nigerians.

The Director-General of NIHSA, Architect Umar Muhammed stated this when the Executive of Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria (EMCAN) led by its Chairman, Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah paid a courtesy visit to the agency’s management in Abuja.

Architect Muhammed who stressed the importance of stronger collaboration between the agency and the media in disseminating critical information to the public, said the media remained an important partner in helping the agency reach vulnerable communities with timely and accurate information, particularly on early warnings and water-related risks.

According to Director General NIHSA, effective management of water resources is critical to preventing water scarcity, contamination and outbreaks of water-related diseases.

“If you do not good Environment and manage water resources, one day you wake up and you’d be shocked with what you see. Either you totally run out of water or you have no clean water,” he said.

Arch. Muhhamed further warned against poor Environmental management and contamination of water sources which according to him could have serious public health consequences, noting that human activities contribute significantly to the pollution of streams and other water bodies.

The NIHSA boss said the agency needed organizations such as EMCAN to interface with the public and ensure that quality information on water resources and early warning systems get to those who need it.

“We will need an organisation like yours to interface with the public and disseminate quality information for public use,” he said.

The association also used the occasion to formally inform the NIHSA management of its plans to cover the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), scheduled to hold in Türkiye.

The EMCAN Chairman appealed to NIHSA to support the association’s participation in the global climate conference, particularly through sponsorship for two to three members who are being considered to represent the association.

 She explained further that EMCAN had already commenced efforts to raise funds to facilitate the participation of its members but was seeking support from relevant government agencies and environmental organisations.

Responding, the NIHSA Director-General said the agency was itself making preparations to participate in COP31 and was exploring collaboration with international development partners, national agencies and other stakeholders.

On EMCAN’s request for sponsorship, the DG explained that NIHSA, as a federal government agency, operates within a statutory funding framework.

He, however, said the agency was already collaborating with international development partners and would explore opportunities that could potentially accommodate additional participation.

“If we are able to secure quite a number of slots, why not? Definitely, it’s something that we could consider,” adding that while noting that he could not give a definite commitment at the moment.

The Special Assistant on Media to the Agency, Mr Yakub Aliyu, also stressed the importance of closer collaboration with environmental journalists, particularly in the areas of publicity and capacity building.

He said NIHSA required greater visibility to enable Nigerians to understand the agency’s mandate and appreciate the importance of hydrological information in preventing disasters.

 Mr. Aliyu noted that Nigeria faces both water scarcity and excess water challenges, including flooding, while contamination of water sources remains another major concern.

He said the contamination of streams and other water sources through human activities could increase the risk of diseases and other public health challenges.

He therefore expressed the agency’s interest in partnering with EMCAN on specialized training programmes that would equip journalists with the technical knowledge required to accurately report hydrological and environmental issues.

The EMCAN delegation explained that many of its members also cover the environment beat and frequently report issues relating to water, climate change, flooding and environmental protection.

The association said one of the major concerns of its members was the lack of regular specialized training for journalists covering technical sectors.

The Chairman stressed that journalists covering government agencies needed to understand the specific mandates, operations and technical language of such institutions to enable them to report accurately.

She said EMCAN’s new leadership was therefore giving priority to capacity building as part of its efforts to improve the quality of environmental journalism in Nigeria.

Also, Technical Adviser to the Director-General of the National Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA),Mr. Stephen Jabo called for stronger collaboration between the agency and the media to improve public awareness of its activities, particularly the Annual Flood Outlook. 

Mr. Jabo said the agency’s work on water and land management directly affects Nigerians, but remains largely unknown to the public due to inadequate publicity and urged media organisations, especially environmental reporters, to liaise closely with NIHSA’s press unit, participate in its programmes and help disseminate critical information on flooding and other water-related issues to communities across the country. 

He stressed that effective media coverage would make the agency more visible and enable Nigerians to better understand and benefit from its activities.

Earlier, the newly elected Chairman of EMCAN, Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah during the courtesy visit, said the association considered the work of NIHSA extremely important to Nigeria but believed that more could be done to bring the agency’s activities to the front burner of public attention.

She said environmental journalists had continued to report the activities of NIHSA but were seeking to deepen the relationship under the association’s new leadership.

According to EMCAN Chairman, the group is interested in building stronger relationships with key environmental agencies, with NIHSA being one of its major partners.

“As environmental journalists, we have been following and reporting the activities of NIHSA, but we want to do more,” the Chairman said.

Adah noted that NIHSA’s work in hydrology, flood forecasting, early warning systems and water resources management had direct implications for the safety and wellbeing of Nigerians,hence the need collaboration of Capacity building for EMCAN members to project the activities of the Agency to the world.

The newly elected EMCAN Chairman explained that while NIHSA would benefit from stronger media visibility, EMCAN members would benefit from capacity-building opportunities, access to technical knowledge and better understanding of hydrological and environmental issues.

She said EMCAN would intensify its efforts to support the agency through consistent media coverage and wider dissemination of its activities to policymakers and the general public.

“We want to intensify our work to support NIHSA to make Nigerians better understand the importance of what the agency does,” She explained.

The EMCAN Chairman also proposed a structured partnership between EMCAN and NIHSA, which she believed it would create greater understanding between both organisations and promote mutually beneficial collaboration.

“We believe that when our members understand the work first-hand, they are better positioned to tell the NIHSA story accurately and effectively,” She said.

Both organisations expressed optimism that the courtesy visit would mark the beginning of a stronger and more sustained relationship, with particular emphasis on public enlightenment, professional development, early warning dissemination and improved reporting of Nigeria’s water and environmental challenges.

The meeting ended with both parties reaffirming their commitment to a mutually beneficial partnership that would ultimately help Nigerians better understand and respond to water-related and environmental risks.

By Abu Umar 

More than 40,000 women across Katsina are benefiting from the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up (NFWP-SU) as Vice President Kashim Shettima on Sunday flagged off disbursement of its Community Investment Fund in the state.

The intervention, already being implemented through Women Affinity Groups (WAGs), provides business capital to strengthen enterprises, improve household incomes, and build the economic resilience of participating women.

Shettima, who performed the flag-off during his one-day official visit to Katsina, described the programme as an investment in the productive capacity of women, particularly those whose opportunities are constrained by limited access to finance.

He said beneficiaries had fulfilled eligibility requirements and demonstrated satisfactory performance in savings and group activities, urging them to sustain financial discipline and collective responsibility that enabled them to participate.

The Vice President said the real measure of the programme’s success would extend beyond the number of beneficiaries to whether intervention strengthens businesses, raises household earnings, creates employment and gives women greater control over economic decisions.

In his remarks, Governor Dikko Umaru Radda said the programme aligned with his administration’s Building Your Future agenda, which places women’s economic empowerment among priorities for strengthening families, communities and the wider Katsina economy.

Radda said Katsina had demonstrated strong ownership of NFWP-SU by committing matching resources alongside World Bank investment, a decision that facilitated expansion from the initial six Local Government Areas to all 34 LGAs.

He said the Community Investment Fund was complementing savings mobilised by WAGs by providing additional resources for establishing new businesses, expanding existing enterprises and strengthening productive activities. 

The governor assured eligible groups that had not received funds during initial disbursement that the process would continue in phases.

Earlier, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Aminu Malumfashi, said the programme had recorded significant progress, with more than 2,393 WAGs formed in Katsina and Daura LGAs, while Funtua had also recorded substantial progress.

She disclosed that groups had collectively mobilised more than N310 million in savings, describing the achievement as evidence of growing financial discipline, collective responsibility and economic self-reliance among participants.

The impact is evident in the experience of Umma Halilu, a beneficiary from Amana Group in Gabas 2 Zone, who said financial literacy training transformed her approach to business and money management. 

She said participants learned to separate business capital from personal expenses, helping them make better financial decisions. 

She added that the group also provided emergency support while training boosted confidence in handling larger sums.

World Bank representative Matthew Verghis said investing in women was an investment in Nigeria’s economic growth, given their contributions across agriculture, trade, processing, entrepreneurship and community development.

Verghis said World Bank analysis estimated that closing gender gaps in agriculture, self-employment and wage employment could generate $22.9 billion, equivalent to 5.8 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. 

He commended Katsina’s commitment to match every dollar invested with another dollar from its resources, saying the commitment helped facilitate expansion to all 34 LGAs.

He urged financial institutions, technology companies, aggregators and other private sector actors to regard WAGs not simply as beneficiaries but as potential customers, suppliers, producers and business partners, stressing that the long-term objective was to enable women to build viable enterprises capable of accessing finance, creating jobs and achieving sustainable economic independence.

By Sam Otuonye 

The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, flagged off the construction of a new ultra-modern National Control Centre in Osogbo, Osun State, marking another major step towards strengthening the management and operation of Nigeria’s National Grid.

Performing the groundbreaking ceremony on behalf of the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, his Senior Special Assistant on Legal and Compliance Matters, Alhaji Bashir Maidugu, described the project as a testament to President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to developing critical national infrastructure under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said the facility would help drive socio-economic development and create a more conducive environment for citizens and businesses.

Giving an overview of the project, the Honourable Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, noted that the existing National Control Centre has been in service for roughly 60 years. He said the present administration recognised the urgent need for a modern facility capable of meeting the demands of an evolving national power system.

Tegbe also called for sector-wide collaboration and support for NISO to enable the organisation fulfil its mandate of delivering reliable and efficient electricity nationwide.

The Chairman of the NISO Board of Directors, Dr. Adesegun A. Akin-Olugbade, described the project as a major milestone in implementing the institutional framework established by the Electricity Act 2023.

He noted that the effective delivery of NISO’s core responsibilities of Market Administration, System Operation and System Planning requires advanced technology, strong governance and robust technical capabilities.

On his part, the MD/CEO of NISO, Engr. Abdu Bello Mohammed, described the groundbreaking as the dawn of a new era in Nigerian power system operations.

According to him, “As Nigeria’s electricity grid grows increasingly complex, we require modern technology, reliable data and skilled professionals to operate it effectively. This new centre will drastically improve grid visibility, enhance real-time monitoring and security, and empower our operators to respond to system events with greater speed and precision.”

The ultra-modern National Control Centre is designed to provide the advanced operational environment required for a world-class system operator.