By John Ikani
Amidst celebrations of Yuletide, reports were rife of alleged clandestine moves by Federal lawmakers to pass the highly contentious National Water Resources Bill, 2022.
The controversial bill which has been repeatedly thrown out of the National Assembly makes it illegal to engage in any water-related activity, such as fishing, sand dredging, land reclamation, borehole drilling, e.t.c. without a license.
It also grants the federal government the authority to seize control of all natural water bodies and tax people for using them.
The bill is sponsored by Sada Soli from the Kaita/Jibia Constituency of Katsina State.
Soli also serves as Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Water Resources.
Nigerians have expressed belief that any attempt to hand over regulation of waterbodies across the country to the Federal Government is driven by an ulterior motive.
West Africa Weekly reports that the alleged plot for accelerated passage of the bill is said to be one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s parting gift to Fulani herders who have been having difficulties accessing water for their animals.
Many fear that the Federal Government, led by Buhari – a self-identified Fulani – will eventually allocate such waterbodies to his kinsmen herders, to the detriment of legitimate landowners and aboriginal communities.
The alleged plot comes amidst a surge in killings carried out by suspected Fulani herdsmen across many parts of the country, particularly in the Northwest and Middle Belt.
Several analysts agree that the struggle for water and fertile grazing fields by nomadic herdsmen – many of whom are not Nigerian citizens, but find their way into the country via long-forgotten cattle grazing routes – is at the heart of the killings.
Earlier last week, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) rejected the bill, stressing that access to water is a human right.
Similarly former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, on Wednesday, lent her voice to protests against the Bill, warning the National Assembly not to complicate things in an already fractured country.
