Nigeria, Niger Reconstruct 128 Boundary Pillars

The governments of Nigeria and Niger have reconstructed a total of 128 main pillars out of the inherited 148 that demarcate the boundary.

The director-general of National Boundary Commission (NBC), Adamu Adaji who disclosed this during a meeting of the joint standing committee of experts on re-demarcation of Nigeria/Niger international boundary in Abuja yesterday, said only 20 more are outstanding.

The meeting had in attendance the permanent secretary, Niger Boundary, Dr Balla Pate and other members of the Niger delegation.

Adaji commended the presidents of Nigeria and Niger for the provision of the required resources for the execution of all the agreed projects.

“There is no doubt that we are making commendable progress in our set goal of re-demarcation of the international boundary. Our aim is to make the boundary more visible to the border inhabitants and not to separate the people who share the same history and culture.

“There is no doubt that the relationship between Nigeria and Niger is about the best between any two neighbours. In fact, both countries are one and the same. I therefore congratulate the people of the two countries for not allowing the artificial boundary to be a barrier between them.

“It is important to stress that we have resolved to implement the agreement that we meet more regularly to review progress of agreed works and also to plan for further activities that are necessary to make our common boundary more visible on ground to serve as a bridge of contact between our common people. The fact that we are meeting now as planned is commendable.

“As the Technical Experts will inform us, a total of 128 main pillars have been successfully re-constructed out of 148 that demarcate the boundary. We therefore have just 20 more outstanding. We have also successfully emplaced many intermediate pillars along the boundary,” he said.

He added that with the continued support of the two governments and development partners, it will soon conclude all outstanding works on the re-demarcation of the boundary and then shift focus to the promotion of cross border and joint developmental activities for the benefit of the two nations.