Nigeria well rated by UNESCO – Adamu

Minister of Water Resources, Malam Suleiman Adamu, says Nigeria is very well rated by UNESCO and there are many projects and collaborative efforts ongoing between both entities.

Adamu stated this on Thursday in Paris, at the ongoing 41st UNESCO General Conference, being attended by the minister and other delegates from Nigeria.

Our correspondent reports that President Muhammadu Buhari attended one of the sessions of the General Conference early in the week before departing for South Africa.

Speaking with our correspondent at the UNESCO headquarters, the minister said the Biosphere project which he was privileged to launch way back in 2018 to address some of the biodiversity in Lake Chad, was among the collaborative efforts.

He said a cocktail was held to commemorate the success of the project which centred on monitoring of water quality of the lake.

“Besides that, my ministry also has collaboration with the UNESCO Category II Centre, for integrated River Basin Management, which is hosted at the National Water Resources Management Institute in Kaduna.

“We also have Inter-Governmental Hydrological Programme, which Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency is working on with UNESCO.”

“UNESCO also assisted us in 2018 when we had the International Conference on Lake Chad,” he said.

The minister said the UN Body also had many projects with other Nigerian ministries and agencies in the Science, Education Technology, Information and Culture sectors.

“There is a lot going on between Nigeria and UNESCO and that informed why the President graced one of its occasions here to show how we are bonded and the important relationship that exists between us,” he said.

Adamu said he was happy with the recent appointment of Dr Hajo Sanni as the Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO.

“She has seemed to have settled down very well as this side of event has shown and the compliments showered on her by other representatives to UNESCO.

“She is on top of the job building relationship. It is a diplomatic posting as much as a developmental thing, and she is networking very wall and building friends,” he said.

Adamu promised that Nigeria would continue to collaborate with UNESCO in planning and execution of many programmes, and to sustain the cordial relationship.

Our correspondent reports that Buhari had in March appointed Sanni as the Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO.

Before the appointment, Sani was the Senior Special Assistant on Administration and Women Affairs to Mrs Aisha Buhari, the president’s wife.

UNESCO was founded after World War II on Nov. 16, 1945 to contribute to global peace and security in the areas of Education, Science Culture and other fields.

The Nigerian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO is the embodiment of the country’s permanent presence at the seat of UNESCO in Paris.

It was established in 1967, seven years after Nigeria became the 58th Member State of the Organisation, soon after attaining independence in Oct. 1960.

The delegation was administered by the Nigerian Embassy in Paris until 1982, when it had an independent status with the appointment of Mrs Judith Attah as the first Ambassador, Permanent Delegate.