Afenifere says imposition of Water Bill will further impoverish Nigerians

The Federal Government’s insistence on passing the Waterways Resources Bill into law, which has been repeatedly rejected, has been criticized by the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization Afenifere as another example of how the government is frequently determined to advance policies that the majority of Nigerians disapprove of while ignoring those that they yearn for.

The organization’s viewpoint was outlined in a statement released on Thursday by Jare Ajayi, national publicity secretary.

He was responding to the most recent assertion made by Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources, that the bill would guarantee expert and effective management of all surface and groundwater for the benefit of all Nigerians.

The minister had vowed that his ministry would continue to pursue the passage of the bill into law because it was the government’s responsibility.

“Some of the people that are vehemently opposing this bill are the ones that stand to benefit and the ones that are most protected.

“For instance, in the riverine areas, it is not good if you don’t have a law that protects the interstate waters.

”This is because 80 per cent of the freshwater of this country flow from north to south into the Atlantic, if you don’t have this kind of protection for the downstream end, what will happen?,” the Minister queried.

Read also: Governors ask state attorney-generals to review Water Bill

However, the Afenifere spokesperson said, “It is unbecoming of a public officer to describe Nigerians as hysterical simply because they express their displeasure to a government policy.

“Secondly, given the fact that the attempts to pass this bill have been consistently rejected since its first mention in 2020 during the 8th National Assembly, it ought to dawn on the Federal Government that Nigerians are not ready to accept the bill in its present form.

“Rather than acting as though it can force its plan down the throat of the people, what the government ought to do is to listen to the people and adjust in accordance with the aspirations and feelings of the people.

“But what have we been experiencing in the hands of government officials, especially those serving under President Muhammadu Buhari? Disdain, lack of respect for the people, actions depicting the government as one of conquest rather than an elected one.”

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