The World Bank, weekend, released its scorecard and end-of-project reports on its implementation of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) programme, with Anambra state beating 22 other states to win overall best-performing states in two places.
The release by the World Bank Senior Environmental Specialist and Task Team Leader, Dr. Joy Agene, stated that Anambra state came top on communication with its robust and effective outreach, and on its procurement competency.
Agene added that Anambra state and 22 others were rated best on Innovation & Inventiveness with regards to NEWMAP projects implementation and execution, even as the state came first runners up on Disbursement, Civil Work, Engineering & Bioremediation; Environmental Safeguards; Social Safeguards; Workflow turn around; and Transparency & Integrity.
NEWMAP, which started in 2012 was a federal government project sponsored by the World Bank with a view to mitigating the effects of soil and land degradation in targeted ecological sites across the 23 states where NEWMAP was implemented.
“The award ceremony is aimed at recognising outstanding states who through the project have positively transformed the lives of residents of benefiting communities, ensuring environmental sustainability through erosion and watershed management infrastructure investments, climate change response and project management, among others,” the statement added.
The award was presented to Anambra state by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, represented by his Special Assistant, Abdulhadi Abdullahi, who praised the state on its exceptional performance, and the project management unit for its outstanding performance.
