Environment
Dam Controversy: Sudan Expresses Reservations Over Tripartite Meeting
Sudan says it has “reservations” over participation in the Tripartite Ministerial meeting involving Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on filling and operation of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) being built on the Blue Nile.
In a statement, the state-owned Sudan News Agency quoted the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources as saying that based on the outcome of the virtual Tripartite Ministerial Meeting held yesterday Sudan submitted a request to hold a bilateral meeting with the African Union (AU) experts and observers on the same day, but it did not receive a response. Instead, it received an invitation to resume the direct tripartite negotiations.
“This prompted Sudan to announce its reservation over the participation, confirming its firm position on the necessity of giving greater role to the African Union experts to facilitate negotiations,” the ministry stressed.
The statement underlined that the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources has affirmed its adherence to the AU-sponsored negotiation process according to the principle of African solutions to African problems.
Ethiopia on its part said the virtual tripartite meeting saw the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Water Affairs of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan exchange views on the continuation of their negotiations.
The state-owned Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) quoted a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying, these negotiations focus on a draft document presented by the experts assigned by the Chairperson of the African Union (AU).
The meeting was convened by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa and Chairperson of the AU Executive Council. It was also attended by observers and AU assigned experts.
ENA said Ethiopia voiced its “positive outlook” of the draft document and expressed its willingness to use it as a single working document for the trilateral negotiation.
Similarly, it said, Sudan conveyed the importance of the document for the progress of the negotiation and its willingness to proceed with the negotiation with a defined role of the AU experts. Egypt categorically rejected the document, it added.
According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most of the issues on the first filling and annual operation of the GERD have been agreed on.
The main difference lies on the co-relation between the GERD Guidelines and Rules and the future water development projects on the Abay Basin, it said.
“The GERD is a non-consumptive hydroelectric generating dam. Any agreement over the dam, which is being negotiated in the absence of a comprehensive water treaty and the prevalence of an unjust status quo, shall be considerate of these fundamental factors. Ethiopia will not agree to a GERD deal that will in any way restrict its right to use the Nile waters,” the statement stated.
Ethiopia said it has forwarded alternative approaches to Egypt and Sudan, which is hoped to garner their affirmative response.
Tensions among the three countries over the dam began to rise after Ethiopia announced last year that it had started filling the reservoir.
Ethiopia has said the dam is essential for its development, while Egypt and Sudan worry about access to vital water supplies from the Nile.
According to a brief by the European Parliament, successive negotiation rounds between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt about the filling and operation of the GERD have ended in stalemate.
President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mrs Margaret Oguntala, has inaugurated the construction of 18 units residential terrace in highbrow Alausa area of Lagos toward bridging the nation’s shelter gap.
Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has launched the 1GOV Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) to enhance digital governance and improve service delivery.
The launch, held on Thursday in Abuja, marks the ministry’s transition from paper-based operations to a smart, integrated and technology-driven work environment.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, said the deployment aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Utsev said the system would improve data management, streamline workflows and strengthen transparency and accountability across the ministry.
According to him, the ECMS will enhance productivity, preserve institutional memory and reduce operational costs in the ministry.
Launching the platform, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said the initiative is a major step in public sector reform.
She said the ministry’s mandate affects Nigerians through water supply, sanitation, irrigation, river basin development and climate resilience programmes.
Walson-Jack said the 1GOV ECMS enables secure digital records management, automated workflows, electronic approvals and real-time collaboration across MDAs.
She added that the deployment aligns with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 and the directive for full digitalisation by December 2025.
“Effective governance cannot afford delays caused by manual bottlenecks or avoidable inefficiencies,” she said.
She directed that all official correspondence in the ministry must henceforth be processed through approved digital registry channels.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Emanso Umobong, said the system would eliminate workflow inefficiencies and improve service delivery.
She urged staff to fully adopt the platform and engage in continuous capacity building.
Research shows that local communities and citizens living at the grassroots, particularly women, are directly impacted by the environmental degradation, flooding and others that result from these manifestations.
In the light of this, non-governmental organisation, Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development (EUFORDe), has held a forum for women and other members of oil impacted communities, tagged: ‘Voices from the Grassroots,’ and aimed at building their resilience and mitigation efforts against climate change and environmental degradation
The forum, with the theme: ‘Building Resilience for Oil Spill Impacted Ahoada Communities,’ organised with support from Global Green Grants, was held in Ahoada Community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, on December 5, 2025.
Executive Director of Ese Usamali Foundation For Rural Development, Mercy Elemchukwu-James, said women are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.
The event, therefore, was “designed for community women impacted by oil spills, flooding and other environmental degradation,” she said.
Community women were enlightened by resource persons on new opportunities for sustainable agricultural practices and water management techniques that cushion the impact of oil spills.
Lectures were also delivered on Self-care and Trauma-care, with focus on physical and mental health of the population, and increasing access to health-related resources and services; as well as on Food security and women’s critical role in decision making in oil spill and flood situations in communities
Elemchukwu-James pointed out that the event created a forum for stakeholders, civil society actors and others to dialogue on measures at advancing inclusive and sustainable livelihoods of community women.
She stressed the need for collaborative efforts towards achieving mitigation efforts, while underscoring EUFORDe’s commitment to “fostering partnerships as a critical driver for achieving a healthy community and sustainable development.”
Elemchukwu-James described participants’ design of ‘Community Resilience Plan,’ to manage and combat environmental degradation and crises, as part of achievements recorded at the event.
The forum also witnessed the launching of EUFORDs’ Center For Resilience and Rights.
“This center is established to build resilience as Trauma-Care for victims of environmental degradation, support for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and a platform where victims of environmental injustice and other GBV cases can seek redress,” Elemchukwu-James said.
Participants celebrated the milestones achieved and charted a path toward greater impact in the coming years. They also described the event as “an inspiring and transformative experience.”
Elemchukwu-James said the awareness creation workshop “reaffirms EUFORDe’s mission to create an equitable society in which the rights and capacities of women, youth, children and underprivileged are integrated in the socio-economic planning and development of communities, for the attainment of equity and peace.
-
Featured4 days agoFubara Redeploys Green As Commissioner For Justice
-
Sports1 day agoAFCON ’25: Osimhen Not Worried By Yekini Comparison, Pressure
-
Politics1 day agoYou Have No Power To Drop Me, Ekiti PDP Candidate Tells INEC
-
Business1 day agoKALCCIMA PROMISES KALABARI ECONOMIC GROWTH, INAUGURATES NEW EXECUTIVES
-
Sports1 day agoOgoni Nation Cup : Coach Praise Players In spite 2-0 Loss
-
Sports1 day agoChelsea Set To Part Ways With Maresca?
-
Sports1 day agoRemo Stars set for Ikenne return
-
Sports1 day agoSoname Calls For NPFL referees demotion
