By Sunday Ani
A Pan Yoruba group, Think Yoruba First Worldwide, has described the resurfaced National Water Resources Bill at the National Assembly as a ploy to worsen the lives of Yoruba people.
The group’s President, Oladimeji Bolarinwa, in a statement, urged the Yoruba, and Nigerians in general, to resist the passage of the bill into law.
“As indigenes of Yorubaland, we, and our unborn generations, will be affected by this bill, as it is a sinister plot to gradually take away our rights completely and worsen the already terrible state of security and welfare in Yorubaland, and, indeed, nationwide.
“We recall that the bill was first introduced in the Eighth National Assembly between 2017 and 2020. It has now been reintroduced to the National Assembly, giving every well-meaning citizen further reason to distrust the minds behind this bill,” the group said in the statement.
The group insisted the aim of the bill was to confer ownership, control and management of surface and underground waters on the Federal Government.
“This would limit people’s current access to water. The Federal Government has the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and under the principles of federalism, especially in a diverse country like Nigeria, the government is advised to focus on the waters in the FCT and leave the states alone.
“Water for the Yoruba constitutes a source of livelihood through fishing in our coastal communities. Osun River, Yewa River, Oba River, Ikogosi and Eerin Ijesa, among others are sacred waters that are paramount in the lives of the Yoruba and are beyond what the Federal Government would try to grab.”