Niger Govt seeks World Bank, UN Support to rebuild flood-ravaged Mokwa

Niger State Governor, Farmer Mohammed Umaru Bago, has appealed to the World Bank and other international partners for urgent support in rebuilding Mokwa town after a devastating flood left the community in ruins.

The Governor made the appeal in Abuja while receiving delegations from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on a condolence visit at the Niger State Liaison Office.

He stressed that Mokwa requires immediate intervention, revealing that the state government had already allocated 200 hectares of land for new settlements to relocate displaced residents.

Farmer Bago acknowledged the enormous losses suffered in the area and expressed optimism that the existing partnership between the state government and the World Bank would provide relief to the affected people.

He also urged the World Bank to fast-track work on the $10 million gully erosion control project in Mokwa, noting that the state government had committed a N10 billion counterpart fund to the project.

In his remarks, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohammed Malick Fall, sympathised with the governor and confirmed that several UN agencies were already offering support in Mokwa.

He assured that the United Nations would remain committed to backing the state’s recovery efforts.

Similarly, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Tamir Samad, described the incident as tragic and reaffirmed Niger State’s active participation in World Bank programmes.

He promised that the World Bank would reassess the Mokwa situation to explore medium-term interventions, including watershed management and the rehabilitation of schools.