Environment
FG Moves To Reposition River Basin Authorities
The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has in Abuja inaugurated a 12-man Executive Management Team to oversee the management of existing River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) across the country.
The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, said that the Federal Government’s target was to ensure that the river basin authorities boosted food security and promoted socio-economic development.
According to him, the re-positioning of the sector is to help meet the agricultural policy trust of the central government.
He said revitalising the river basin authorities would also go a long way to create opportunities for employment generation.
“It is saddening that they have not met their expectations since creation,’’ he said.
He said the Federal government was collaborating with the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) and ICRC to commercialise the river basins, adding that it was the sure way to make them viable.
“In the last one year, we had taken concrete steps to resuscitate the RBDAs, the first of which was to develop an action plan and blue print.
“The blueprint that includes `quick win’ interventions with the objectives of restoring mandate, building institutional capacity, maximising operations and output of the RBDAs.
“We are also collaborating with BPE and ICRC to midwife the RBDAs towards partial and eventual full commercialisation with little or no dependence on government for funding.
“The new management team of the RBDAs is now tasked to turn around the performance of the RBDAS to become more efficient in the delivery of established mandate,’’ he said.
Adamu urged the members to desist from playing politics with their assigned duties, saying they should adhere to transparency and accountability in all of their dealings.
Responding on behalf of the newly inaugurated members, Mr Micheal Nwabufo, Managing Director, Anambra/Imo River basin Development Authority, expressed optimism that they would live to their expectations.
He said the mandate given to them would be judiciously used towards restructuring the river basins to promote food security and employment for the citizens.
Other members are: Saliu Ahmed- Benin-Owena River Basin, Abba Garba- Chad Basin, Bassey Nkposong- Cross River Basin, Khalid Abdullahi-Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin, Mahmoud Adra-Lower Benue River Basin Development and Adeniyi Aremu – Lower Niger River Basin.
The rest are: Tonye David-West-Niger Delta River Basin, Olufemi Odumosu-Ogun/ Osun River Basin, Bature Mohammed -Sokoto Rima River Basin, Abubakar Muazu -Upper Benue River Basin and Abdulkarim Ali-Upper Niger River Basin.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last week approved the reconstitution of the executive management of river basin development authorities under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
Some stakeholders in Okoroagu community in the Etche Local Government Area of Rivers state have blamed the perennial erosion in the community on the poor conditions of their road.
They are therefore calling for the rehabilitation of their road.
They said this in an interview with The Tide, at okoroagu.Speaking to The Tide,the Ochimba of Okoroagu community, Eze Marcus Amadi said the poor conditions of their road has retarded the growth and development of the community.
According to Eze Amadi,”The government has neglected us, they have forgotten about us, we have been writing letters to the government, both to the NDDC to come and repair our road for us, we are on our knees pleading to them to come help us out, at least they should just dredge the road for us”
Continuing he said”If the government comes today to repair our road, nobody will say they shouldn’t.
“Nobody will obstruct them. We have been shouting and crying that our road is not good, the road is affecting the community economically and socially in the sense that, there is no way we can carry our crops out because of erosion.
“Erosion have taken over the road, making it difficult for us to access other communities especially during rainfall you see people falling down and getting injured inside the river which we call Mmiri Ehe in our language, which reaches our waist line during raining season. Our people can not go to other market to sell their products due to the bad road”he saidAlso speaking,Chairman Community Development Committee( CDC )Okoroagu , Hon. Elvis Nwaobasi decried the situation of the road, stressing that economic activities are being affected as movement of goods and services have gradually slowed down in the area.
” The road have affected our women so badly, they are no longer going to the other neighboring markets to sell their Agric produce because of the nature of the road.
“This road has also affected us in many ways, it has affected our educational system, security system, it has also affected our health system, because with the nature of that road, people cannot access our health facilities in the community, with the nature of that road, people cannot access our school, with nature of the road, people cannot come in and do business in our community, we cannot access the road because of the neglect of the road.
“People are using our road for excuses to come in and invest and do businesses. People who come to our market to buy our products are no longer coming because of the nature of the road.” I am pleading with the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayig Fubara to please come to the aid of Okoroagu and repair our road. I am pleading with the Rivers State House of Assembly, we are suffering too much because of this road. We have been neglected and abandoned for years, the government should please come to our aid” he said.Also the women leader of Okoroagu community, Mrs. Anthonia Nweke blamed some politicians from the area for abandoning the people of Okoroagu
“Our road has been abandoned, overlooked, with no attention, mostly the higher politicians of the place, we have been abandoned for years”
In furtherance to the commitment of the Federal Government through the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation (HYPREP) to the full implementation of the recommendations of the UN Environment Programme Report on Ogoni Environment, the Project has commenced processes to designating Ogoni Wetland as a Ramsar Site.
Labaran Ahmed, National Focal Point for Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance and Assistant Director in the Federal Ministry of Environment, who is leading the process for collection of field samples, said the move will converse biodiversity, enhance livelihood, attract ecotourism and further earn global recognition for Ogoni Wetlands.The UNEP Report envisages that this would provide the Government with a roadmap for restoration and sustainable management of the Ogoni wetland, bring the site unto international among others.Project Coordinator, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, represented by Director Technical Services, Professor Damien-Paul Aguiyi said the project further attests to the Federal government’s commitment through HYPREP to implementing the UNEP Report simultaneously.Nigeria is a signatory to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction(BBNJ) Agreement for how research on marine genetic resources must be conducted and documented, ensuring transparency and the equitable distribution of benefits.
Environment
Tribunal Acknowledges losses in Rare species Across the globe …urges for government Action
It was noted that the choice by the Brazilian government to host COP30 serves as a symbol of the importance of the Amazon. They denounced the current and future impacts of the expansion of the extractivist frontier, deforestation, fossil fuels and large-scale mining. It was urged that the Amazon, with its ecosystems, animal, plant species, and rich biodiversity, natural medicines and its vital and reproductive cycles, should be considered as a subject of rights together with the Indigenous Peoples, and other communities that inhabit it.
The co-president and judge of the tribunal, Nnimmo Bassey, while delivering the verdict, noted that the defence of the rights of Nature is the right way to carry out real climate action and that there is no climate justice without the rights of Nature.
The tribunal stressed the need to phase out fossil fuels and quickly move to renewable energy as a way that protects both communities and ecosystems from false solutions that merely benefit financial speculators and compound climate injustices. The Tribunal also urged the United Nations to adopt the pledge as a blueprint for international environmental law.
A copy of the declaration obtained by The Tide revealed that,Judges at the Tribunal included Ana Alfinito of Brazil, Nnimmo Bassey ( Nigeria), Enrique Viale (Argentina), Shannon Biggs (USA), Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation, USA), Tom Goldtooth (USA), Princes Esmeralda (Belgium), Cormac Cullinan (South Africa), Patricia Gualings (Ecuador), Francesco Martone (Italy) Tzeporah Berman (USA), Ashish Katharine (India), Osprey Orielle Lake (USA), Pooven Moodley (South Africa) and Felicio Pontes (Brazil)
