The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, has challenged researchers and participants at the just-concluded regional training workshop on Climate Change and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in South-West Nigeria, to come up with far-reaching findings that could mitigate the effects of climate change and develop the water resource capabilities of the country.
The Vice-Chancellor, speaking at the workshop, which was jointly organized by the National Water Resources Capacity Building Network (NWRCBNet), in partnership with the National Water Resources Institute (NWRI), Kaduna and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), stressed the need for an integrated approach to water resource management through education, training, research and information dissemination, to transform the nation’s economy.
Professor Oyewole, who is also the President, Association of African Universities (AAU), was represented at the occasion by the Dean, Postgraduate School, Professor Ololade Enikuomehin.
He noted that FUNAAB was passionate about the development of Agriculture and would, therefore, leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the impact of research findings in the University get to the common man on the streets, adding that this passion largely contributed to the institution’s chances of winning the World Bank’s Centre for Excellence in Agriculture Award.
The Co-ordinator of NWRCBNet-SW and Dean, FUNAAB’s College of Engineering, Professor Johnson Adewumi, said the Centre was committed to its mission of promoting effective partnership in the areas of education, training, research and information dissemination on water resources development and management with a view to engendering Integrated Water Resources Management and ecosystem sustainability in the nation’s south-west states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo.
He added that water, an important sector of the economy is multidisciplinary in nature and cuts across Engineering, Hydro-geology, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, Law, Finance Administration, Management, Soil Sciences, Meteorology, Irrigation, Hydrology, Microbiology, Sociology, among others.
The Co-ordinator said the training would cover practical sessions that would be of immense benefit to participants.
The training workshop had in attendance participants from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Ministries of Environment and Water Resources in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun States
