The recent rejection of the controversial Water Resources Bill by the Senate is laudable. Members of the Red Chamber had on June 6 refused to pass the bill for concurrence at the plenary. The House of Representatives had earlier passed the controversial and divisive water resources bill despite strident opposition by most Nigerians. In 2017, the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari presented the needless bill to both chambers of the National Assembly.
The bill is entitled, “A Bill for an Act to Establish a Regulatory Framework for the Water Resources Sector in Nigeria, Provide for Equitable and Sustainable Development, Management, Use and Conservation of Nigeria’s Surface and Ground Water Resources and for Related Matters.” Essentially, the water resources bill intends to transfer the control and management of water resources in the country from the state to the federal government. The intention of the bill is probably why most Nigerians rejected it.
Therefore, the 9th Senate should be highly commended for throwing out the inimical and controversial water resources bill which is capable of causing avoidable strife and crisis in the country. In a federal system of government, every state or federating unit should be allowed to manage its water resources to the best of its ability. A legislature that seeks to transfer the control of all water resources in the country to an already overburdened federal government is ill-conceived and intended to cause confusion and disaffection among the people.
Moreover, clauses 1-5 of the bill appear the most controversial and contentious. The bill’s provision that “All surface water and groundwater wherever it occurs is a resource common to all people, the use of which is subject to statutory control. There shall be no private ownership of water but the right to use water in accordance with the provision of the Act,” is provocative and uncalled for in a federation.
In an era when Nigerians are calling for devolution of more powers from the federal government to the federating units, the bill is invariably making a case for a unitary system of government, a feature of military or autocratic regimes. With 168 items on the exclusive legislative list being controlled by the federal government, there is no need to give the same federal government the power to control and manage all water resources in the country. It is likely that those promoting the water resources bill have a hidden agenda.
In a country where lands, except the Federal Capital Territory, are vested on the state governments, the provisions of the water bill will definitely conflict with the extant provisions of the Land Use Act. It is good that the bill has finally been rejected by members of the Senate. We urge members of the House of the Representatives to throw away the toxic bill as well. The water bill lacks any redeeming feature and should be rejected by all Nigerians. Any attempt to resurrect the water bill in future must be opposed by all Nigerians.
Henceforth, we enjoin members of the 10th National Assembly to be circumspect on the type of bills they should deliberate upon, making sure that no divisive bill is passed by them. The earlier argument by the former Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu, that “the National Water Resources Bill was not a new law, rather it was an amalgamation of Water Resources Laws that had been in existence as enshrined in LFN 2004” was not convincing.
In place of the contentious water resources bill, each state of the federation should be allowed to continue to control and manage its water resources. Just as every state is allowed to control and manage its land and some of its resources, water resources should not be subjected to the federal government’s control. There are fears in some quarters that the bill is tailored to dispossess some riverine people of their land. Moving forward, let members of the National Assembly make laws that will ensure good governance and peaceful co-existence of all Nigerians. Any divisive bill or legislation must be thrown away forthwith.