The Federal Government has received a $508.59 million World Bank grant for the control of erosion in worst hit areas across the country.
The grant financing LEADERSHIP gathered, would be used to address the problem of gully erosion particularly in Edo, Ebonyi, Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Anambra, Kano and Kaduna as well as Sokoto and Ogun States within an eight- year period.
Speaking yesterday at the proposed Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), the Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, said the serious land degradation problems faced by Nigeria posed great threats to its social economic development.
According to her: “Soil erosion and associated hazards are among the most serious environmental issues causing major economic, social and environmental problems in various parts of the country particularly in the humid zone.”