Reject water bill before National Assembly, groups tell Nigerians

 Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu

Governors have been called upon to save Nigeria by unanimously and unequivocally rejecting the controversial National Water Resources Bill.

Tiv Youth Organisation (TYO) Worldwide which made the call yesterday also asked the National Assembly to stop further proceedings on the Bill and  warned its sponsors to desist from toying with the peace and unity of the country.

The organisation described plans by the Federal Government to work towards the passage of the Bill as a death sentence on communities that might be affected by it.

TYO, therefore, appealed to governors across the country to emulate their Benue State colleague, Samuel Ortom and say no to the “infamous bill.”

Benue Governor, Ortom had advised members of the National Assembly to throw out the bill as it was ill motivated.

Making the call at a press briefing in Enugu shortly after the meeting of Indigenous Ethnic Youth Leaders of Nigeria, TYO’s President, Timothy Hembaor warned that continued fence sitting of the other governors who were the leaders of the Nigerian people would lead to national paralysis.

“We call on the whole country to rise and resist the National Water Resources Bill about to be passed by the ninth Assembly.If Nigerians allow that bill to become law, the future of generations yet unborn will be mortgaged! Our children will become permanent slaves to Fulani jihadists in their own land,” Hembaor said.

In a related development, Mr Frank Tietie, Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Right (CASER), called on Nigerians to reject the water resources bill before the National Assembly.

Tietie, a human rights lawyer made the call at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.

He said the bill had a sinister motive and “is anti-masses’’ saying, the government would be treading on the wrong path should the bill scale through.

“Water is not crude oil so it should not be regulated, the way the Federal Government is managing our natural resources is not encouraging so allowing them to extend their hold on water resources will be compound issues.”