NIGERIA - Technical assistance to the NWRI: training – studies and prime contracting – supply of equipment
The National Water Resources Institute (NWRI) is the only institute in NIGERIA in charge of training and applied research in the water sector. This institute, located in Kaduna, was created in 1979 under the supervision of the Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources. The 4 main activities and missions of NWRI are: basic and professional training, basic and applied research, documentation and data base management. Since its creation, the institute has trained 1,400 students. NWRI has a staff of 200 people and an annual budget of about 160,000 US$. The actions of the International Office for Water with NWRI fall within the scope of the cooperation established between the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs (The French Embassy) and the Nigerian Authorities. The objective of this cooperation was to provide technical assistance to NWRI to facilitate its development by adapting French know-how in the water sector.
Several types of mission have been carried out :
- The training of trainers and of NWRI clients on major topics such as treatment of drinking water, wastewater treatment, maintenance, the reuse of treated water for irrigation,...
- Expert evaluations linked to the development of new NWRI activities (analysis laboratories, technical assistance service for water treatment, positioning regarding the water agencies, documentation, ...)
- Equipment supply: OTV pilot unit for the production of drinking water, SOAF pilot unit for the treatment of waste water, pollution assessment and laboratory equipment, documentary collections, computer hardware,... Among other things, these actions allowed NWRI, in 1996, to get a contract with the World Bank for the training of Nigerian operators of drinking water treatment plants within the framework of a rehabilitation program for drinking water treatment plants in Nigeria. This contract was signed owing to a drinking water treatment pilot supplied by OTV and the training of NWRI’s trainers on its use.
- Establishment of an educational pilot system for the distribution of drinking water allowing training courses to be held on this topic,
- Settingup of a National Nigerian Network for Water Data led by NWRI and inspired by the French experience of the National Water Data Base