A Nigerian Senator, Emmanuel Ibok Essien, has told members of the 9th National Assembly to reject the contentious National Water Resources Bill by the Federal Government meant to deprive people of their natural resources.
Essien who represented Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District from 1999-2003 argued that this was indirect way by the Federal Government to control water resources just like Land Use Act by introducing Ruga settlement to deprive many of their land and water fronts.
In 2017, the Federal Government sent the Bill to the National Assembly requesting its passage into law, but it was rejected.
The bill seeks to transfer the control of water resources from states to the Federal Government.
Read also: PDP Govs Worried By Controversial Water Resources Bill, 2020
The bill is entitled: ”A Bill for An Act to Establish a Regulatory Framework for the Water Resources Sector in Nigeria, Provide for the Equitable and Sustainable Redevelopment, Management, Use and Conservation of Nigeria’s Surface Water and Groundwater Resources and for Related Matter.’’
Essien in an interview with Straightnews last Wednesday at Ritman University, Ikot Ekpene, noted ”If you ask me what role I am playing, I will tell you that I am the National Chairman of Pan-Niger Delta Forum, the umbrella organization for Niger Delta. We kicked against the passage of that bill in the 8th Assembly, and we are going to kick against it in this 9th Assembly.
”This is the third time that the bill has been introduced in the National Assembly, and we are going to kick against it.
”We are advising our National Assembly members not to support that bill because it is an indirect way of the Federal Government just like the Land Use Act. It is an indirect way of controlling the water resources and then they can establish RUGA settlements wherever they want.
”Like the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy, the Federal Government can wake up one day and say the water belongs to the Federal Government, therefore, the states have nothing in it.
”So, it is a bill that must not see the light of the day. As Journalists, you have to condemn that bill and enlighten the people through your medium and our National Assembly members on why they should not support that bill.’’
Implications of the ‘contentious’ National Water Resources Bill
Despite the rejection of the Bill by most Nigerians, coupled with the popular clamour for resource control and power devolution to the states, the House of Representatives last week reintroduced the obnoxious bill for the federal government to seize control of Nigeria’s water resources, including the river banks for the resettlement of foreign herders.
While most Nigerians are kicking against the concentration of powers in the hands of the federal government, some federal lawmakers have been pushing behind the scenes for the federal government to take over the control of Nigeria’s water resources, as it seized control of the oil and gas resources.
The bill, which was brought through the backdoor, was withdrawn after the deceptive legislative fireworks by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Wase; the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Abubakar Fulata (APC/Jigawa); and the Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Hon. Sada Soli (APC/Katsina), failed to hoodwink the majority of the lawmakers.
Apart from ceding ownership of water resources and river banks to the federal government, another offensive provision in the strange bill is that individuals who want to drill boreholes at their backyards for commercial purposes in any state of the federation must travel all the way to a northern part of the country to obtain permits from a federal government agency.
The Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, on Thursday tried to justify this offensive provision when he claimed that some Nigerians did not want to pay the necessary taxes to the government for mining water.
A senator in the eighth National Assembly, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had described the bill as an attempt by a section of the country to “finish off other sections by seizing their water resources after successfully annexing their oil and gas resources.”
It was a relief to the majority when the House of Representatives on September 29, 2020 forced the promoters of the bill to withdraw the obnoxious legislation.
