Business
MD Laments Fate Of River Basin Authorities
Managing Director of Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority, Prof. Paul Marley, yesterday said Nigeria’s river basins had become shadows of their old selves due to poor funding.
Marley made the remark when members of the authority’s board of directors met with the staff in Kaduna.
He said there was urgent need to revive the river basins infrastructure, for best agricultural practices.
“Most river basin instruments that would have improved our economy were abandoned while some were sold to interested private individuals.
“There cannot be agricultural development without water. We take water for granted in Nigeria and this is contributing to poor agricultural production,” Marley said.
He urged the Federal Government to improve the funding of river basins across the country, to engender growth in the agriculture sector.
On the activities of the body in Kaduna State, Marley said it was handling “eight small dams, one medium hard dam, two constituency projects for provision of water and the Galma multipurpose dam”.
“Kaduna State has an opportunity to lead the river basin projects in Nigeria but insufficient funding was a major bottleneck,” he said.
Marley called for partnership with the private sector in developing river basin infrastructure, as “the nature of the national budget cannot move the authorities forward”.
In his response, Chairman of the board, Dr Sam Ode assured the staff that the new board would move the authority forward.
He, therefore, urged them to give their maximum cooperation to make things work.
“We are a two-way communication board, we will embrace communication as long as it goes through appropriate channel”, he told the staff.
Ode stressed that agriculture must take the front line in Nigeria’s economy, adding that “this is going to be our policy mandate”.
Business
Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons
Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.
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