The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency says the agency has employed 110 workers to execute its mandate aimed at monitoring and assessing the nation’s surface and ground water resources.
The Director-General of the agency, Mr Clement Onveasonze, made the disclosure on Monday, January 14, 2019 at a three-day induction workshop for the newly recruited staff in Abuja.
Onveasonze said that the training was in tandem with the agency’s new resolve to develop a positively motivated and skilled workforce able to adapt to growing needs of the agency.
He said that the training would build the capacity of new staff to provide the services required for assessment of the nation’s surface and ground water resources in terms of quantity, quality, distribution and availability.
“We will use three days to induct our new staff to know the reasons why they are bringing into the public service.
“They will be inducted to carry out ground water exploration and monitoring, using various scientific techniques to provide hydrological and hydro-geological data needed for planning, design, execution and management of water resources and allied projects,’’ he said.
The director-general called for construction of small dams on the routes leading to River Benue to check water released from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.
He said that if the dams were built and well monitored, they would go a long way in addressing flooding along the River Benue.
Onveasonze, who recalled that Lagdo Dam was built 40 years ago, said that Nigeria had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cameroon to notify Nigeria before releasing excess water from its dam.
By Deji Abdulwahab
