Abuja — The Minister of Water Resources, Chief Obadiah Ando, said the summit of heads of states and governments of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) would address the rehabilitation of Kainji Dam which would secure power production to a maximum capacity of 760 mega watts.

However, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is expected to host the member states of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) on September 16, 2010 in Abuja.

The minister disclosed this at a press briefing for the hosting of the 9th Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the NBA in Abuja.

He stated that NBA was one of the important trans-boundary water authorities to which Nigeria belongs in addition to being a major contributor to its annual budget.

" Today, the source of potential conflicts and contention in many parts of the world originates from trans-boundary rivers, for instance there is simmering dispute on the control of waters of the Nile and countries are contending with those upstream for the use of its waters,"he said.

Ando added that the objective of the conference was to create awareness about the overriding concern on activities on the river Niger, and also avail participants with the current situation report as it relates to the three dams currently being constructed upstream which are of great concern to Nigeria.

He further hinted that the huge investments of the NBA was to reinforce the management in the Niger Basin in order to improve the living standard of over 30 million people living along the Niger basin.