Drop illegal Water Resources Bill now – SERAP to National Assembly

OBINNA EZUGWU

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the National Assembly to drop the ‘illegal’ National Water Resources Bill 2020 currently before it which, among other things, requires Nigerians to obtain government permit before sinking borehole in their homes.

The Water Resources Bill which was subject of heated controversy in the Abubakar Bukola Saraki led 8th with many Nigerians rejecting it for being too obnoxious, leading to it being dropped, was recently smuggled back into the 9th Assembly by the executive.

The Bill if passed, will cede the control of the country’s water bodies to the federal government thus denying communities who live close to such water bodies the right to make livelihoods out of them.

The Bill seeks to bring all water resources (surface and underground) and the banks of the water sources under the control of the Federal Government through its agencies to be established by the Bill.

Section 13 of the Bill, states, “in implementing the principles under subsection (2) of this section, the institutions established under this Act shall promote integrated water resources management and the coordinated management of land and water resources, surface water and ground water resources, river basins and adjacent marine and coastal environment and upstream and downstream interests.”

Section 2(1) of the Bill, says: “All surface water and ground water wherever it occurs, is a resource common to all people.’’ The Bill is primed for passage by the House on their resumption from recess next month, which is September.

When it was first introduced, many accused the President Muhammadu Buhari government of planning to grab community land in the middle belt and south of the country to give Fulani herdsmen and Miyeti Allah cattle breeders unfettered access to land and water resources in such communities.

SERAP which registered its opposition to the bill in a statement via its twitter handle, @SERAPNigeria on Thursday, vowed to challenge it in court should the National Assembly proceed to pass it.

“We call on the leadership of National Assembly to immediately drop the illegal Water Resources 2020, which requires Nigerians to obtain a permit before sinking a borehole in their homes,” the rights group said.

“We’ll challenge this illegality in court should the bill ever be passed into law. The bill also states, among others, that “the use of water shall be subject to licencing provisions”. The licence can be withdrawn on flimsy grounds.

“Rather than addressing severe water crisis and improving access of Nigerians facing daily challenges just to access safe water for drinking and hygiene, the National Assembly is pushing to take away Nigerians’ fundamental human right to clean water.

“Yet, Nigeria has ratified numerous human rights treaties that contain obligations related to water and sanitation, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”