Ijaw Group Rejects National Water Resources Bill

The Ijaw National Development Group (INDG) says it rejects the passage of the National Water Resources Bill 2020 in its present form, without it been open to public hearing and wide consultation.

The group stated this in a communique issued on Sunday after a one day virtual conference on the bill.

In the communiqué, the INDG, convened by Mr Dennis Banigo, stated that the fundamental concerns of ownership, control, management and use in favour of federalism, human and peoples’ environmental rights must be addressed.

The group said that Ijaw nation was open and willing to engage, consult and negotiate, to reach a Bill for an Act that protects her strategic interests, for the greater good of all Nigerians.

It stated that passage of the bill into law could be achieved without sacrificing the fundamental rights, issues of Federalism, ownership, control, management and right to use, including sustainable use and environmental management.

“We call on the Nigerian State and the Presidency to emulate the practice of true federalism in developed nations where water regulation is left for the states to formulate, within a framework set by the federal agency. We resolve to work with other ethnic nationalities, to ensure that we protect our nationalities and restore our federalism as Nigerians from unitary intrusion and control, by hegemony and vested business and political interest,” INDG said.

According to the communiqué, INDG shares the concerns of many Nigerian ethnic nationalities, who believe that the bill is part of a grand plot to take over their land, by finely worded legislation.

“This legislation before the 9th National Assembly could be in fact, a machination in the character of RUGA Settlement. To this end, we express our solidarity with the people of Benue and Niger State, and other ethnic nationalities and people of good conscience that believe in true Federalism.

“We extend our hand of fellowship, in the quest for justice, equity, and fairness, as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Africa Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights.” the group stated.

The group also urged that the ill and its contents, rested by the 8th national assembly, be consigned `to the dustbin of history where it rightly belongs’.