By Sani Gazas Chinade, Damaturu
The World Bank Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP), has donated Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing Technology equipment worth millions of naira to the Federal University, Gashua (FUGA), Yobe State.
The equipment, which consists of projectors, Television monitors, Printers, Digitizers, GPS units, and sensors, among others, was received by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Maimuna Waziri, and handed over to the Geography department.
While commenting on the donation, Prof. Maimuna said that the equipment will help enhance the capacity of the institution to monitor the environment, studying climate change impacts, and managing natural disasters such as fire, droughts, flooding, freshwater availability, evapotranspiration, and crop yields.
According to the VC, the equipment will not only help in limiting the effect of desertification and improving the livelihood and security of the region but will also assist the university in exploring areas of research that would help in mitigating the devastating effect of flooding, which in most cases leads to loss of lives and damage to critical service delivery infrastructure and property.
“I sincerely want to extend my profound gratitude on behalf of the Senate, management, and the entire staff and students of Federal University Gashua, especially those at the Geography department, for the wonderful gesture from the World Bank and the MCRP team,” the VC said.
While commending the World Bank for the gesture, the VC urged the beneficiary department to judiciously utilize the equipment, stressing that the equipment was part of an effort to encourage teaching, research, and the application of technology in addressing societal challenges and should therefore not be used for any other purpose.
Also present during the handover of the equipment were the Deputy Vice–Chancellor Academic Services, Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Jajere, HOD Geography, Dr. Lawrence Ejeh Udeh, and the University Auditor, Mohammed Musa Machina.
The particular project was funded by the World Bank programme through the Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP) of NEDC.
Other components of the intervention include the research grants programme is a competitive funding scheme that supports and promotes applied research in the area of Agriculture Value Chain aimed at improving Research on irrigation water productivity to improve crop production, food security, and livelihood in Yobe Basin (a sub-basin in greater Chad Basin). And greenhouse farming for improved nutrition and food security.
Other areas of the project are the mediating role of Non-interest Financial institutions in addressing Financial Exclusion in the North-East to enhance Economic Development and in the area of peacebuilding, social cohesion, prevention, and countering violent extremism and to mitigate the impact of Boko Haram insurgency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states: on the Agricultural sector at large.
