A self-determination group, United Indigenous People of Africa (UNIPA), has described the newly re-introduced Water Resources Bill into the National Assembly which seeks to place the control of all resources accrued through water on the surface or in the ground under the control of the Federal Government as an attack on universal federalism and an exhibition of wickedness on the part of the Federal Government.
UNIPA said that the reintroduction of the bill was to further weaken the states and local government areas who are already bankrupt due to usurpation of their functions. The group this described the bill as a ‘mockery’ of the country’s already quasi-federal principles.
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UNIPA, which has its chapters in 28 African countries and United Kingdom, has its headquarters in the United States of America and in an electronic statement by a co-convener of the group, Ms Jean May, it described the moves by the Federal Government to take over the control of all water banks, including its streams and all resources therein, as an attempt to take over assets of the already oppressed indigenous people in the country.
According to the statement, “We have studied the Water Resources Bill and we found no sense in it.
“Our country representative in Nigeria reported that this is a facade and a complete hijack of the assets of indigenous people, especially, in the South and Middle-Belt parts of the country.
“For the sake of ordinary people who may not understand the danger ahead, the implication of the Water Resources Bill is that Osun-Osogbo River, Erin-Ijesha Water Fall, Asejire Water and others which are tourist sites that generate millions of naira monthly to Osun State government will now be administered by the Federal Government. Specifically, It means that the administration of Osun-Osogbo Festival will now be determined by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in Abuja.
“The Implication of the Water Resources Bill is that the administration and control of Ipole/Iloro Water Fall, Ikogosi Warms Spring, Ado-Ekiti Water Works, Ero River, Ogidigbi Stream, Iyemero Water all in Ekiti State now belongs to the Federal Government,” it said.
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In the statement, UNIPA stated further that by placing the management and control of all river banks under the control of the Federal Government, the state governments of Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River can no longer collect revenue from anyone or corporate entities doing businesses at the bank of Atlantic Coastal Lines neither can the Lagos State Waterways Agency operate its boat services at the bank of Lagos Lagoon without the express approval of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in Abuja.