The World Bank has pledged to continue to support the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector in Nigeria.

Dr Ndiame Diop, the new Country Director of the World Bank, gave the pledge when he led his team on a visit to the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, in Abuja on Monday.

Diop expressed the readiness for a strengthened partnership and continued collaboration with the ministry for the greater success of water policies and programmes in the country.

The minister, on his part, called for increased funding to strengthen food security across the nation.

Utsev stressed the importance of allocating resources for food security, saying that it would create more employment opportunities and curtail criminal activities among the citizenry.

He stressed the necessity of fostering a robust partnership between the World Bank and the ministry to effectively pursue the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, especially the implementation of the Sustainable Power and Irrigation Project for Nigeria, SPIN.

He hailed the outgoing country director of the World Bank, Mr. Shubham Chaudhuri, for his commendable service, wished him well in his future endeavours and pledged to support the incoming director, Mr Diop, for a fruitful tenure.

World Bank to support water, sanitation, hygiene in Nigeria