By Atoyebi Nike
The Federal Government has launched the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project with European Investment Bank financing (NEWMAP-EIB), a €175 million initiative aimed at tackling erosion, land degradation, and flooding across 23 states.
Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Lawal, who unveiled the project in Abuja, described it as a “significant milestone” in Nigeria’s climate resilience efforts. He said the programme would restore degraded land, safeguard farmlands and infrastructure, improve food security, and strengthen community participation in climate adaptation.
“The initiative reaffirms Nigeria’s steadfast commitment to sustainable land and water resources management as well as climate resilience and community development,” he said, adding that the federal government has released ₦750 million as the first tranche of counterpart funding.
Lawal explained that NEWMAP-EIB builds on the earlier World Bank-supported NEWMAP-IDA project, which ran from 2013 to 2022, mitigating gully erosion and strengthening institutional capacity across 23 states.
Head of the EIB Regional Hub for West and Central Africa, Roger Stuart, pledged the bank’s support to help Nigeria tackle soil degradation by 2030. Similarly, National Project Coordinator, Anda Yalaks, said the programme would provide lasting solutions to erosion and watershed degradation.
Representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and participating states also reaffirmed their commitment. Deputy Governor of Gombe State, Manasseh Jatau, who spoke on behalf of the 23 states, assured strong local collaboration to check flooding and erosion.
The project will run for five years and be implemented in states including Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, and Sokoto.
