Re-positioning River Basin Authorities

River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) are important organs of govern
ment established to drive and fast-track development across the country and also shore up the economy, particularly in the various areas of their operations. The major goal of the RBDAs is to facilitate rural transformation.
However, keen observers are agreed that the 12 RBDAs in the country have deviated from their core mandate and lost total focus since their establishment in 1976.  Mismanagement, corruption, politics and other malaise have been identified as the bane of the authorities, which to a great extent have impeded their operations and made it difficult for them to realise their vision.
However, with the down turn in the nation’s economy, coupled with the urgent need to diversify  and free it  from  over-dependence on oil, while reviving  the agriculture sector, the need to reposition the RBDAs has become more compelling.
Incidentally, the Managing Directors of the nation’s 12 RBDAs recently converged in Abuja to brainstorm on the way forward. At the end of a two-day retreat, they were unanimous that there was need to actually reposition the RBDAs for greater efficiency and productivity.
Indeed, the resolution of the Managing Directors to actually reposition the RBDAs is in line with the Federal Government’s agriculture policy thrust towards meeting food security and self-sufficiency for socio-economic development.
While speaking on behalf of other Managing Directors of the RBDAs at the occasion, the Managing Director of Anambra-Imo RBDA, Mr. Michael Nwabufo acknowledged that the RBDAs had not achieved their mandate due to diverse challenges and promised that the present management would be transparent and accountable in running the affairs of the authorities in order to turn around their fortunes and achieve the objectives of their establishment. The authorities would be re-structured to promote food security and employment generation, he affirmed.
Also lending his voice on the issue, the Managing Director of Benin-Owena RBDA, Mr. Saliu Ahmed said with a new blueprint on agriculture, the authorities would harness water resources, promote aquaculture, irrigation farming, all-year farming and wealth creation.
On its part, the Federal Government through the Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu disclosed that concrete steps had been taken to resuscitate the RBDAs through an action plan and a blueprint for efficient service delivery, and charged the Managing Directors to shun corruption as well as be accountable and proactive in their operations.
Indeed, The Tide endorses the Federal Government’s plan to revive the RBDAs, as most of them before now, had become moribund, having abandoned their core mandate for other mundane activities. There is the need for the government to go beyond rhetorics and match words with action to ensure that the RBDAs are properly positioned to discharge their statutory obligations.
We also recall that in the past, attempts had been made to revive these authorities but unfortunately, corruption and politics had seemingly put spanners in the works.
Indeed, there is no better time to make the RBDAs start working again than now. Efforts must be made to insulate them from politics to make them relevant and result-oriented.
It is also expected that the Federal Government would put the proper machinery in place to monitor and supervise the RBDAs in order to check the excesses of their managers. This is necessary to pull them out of the brinks and the unedifying reputation of under-performance of yester-years.
There is no gainsaying that dependence on oil and gas had adversely affected the fortunes of the RBDAs. We believe that there can be no better time than now to return to agriculture to diversify the government’s sources of revenue. Going by their core mandate, the RBDAs  can be very useful in this direction.
There is also the need for the government to provide the enabling environment through adequate funding for the authorities to operate effectively.Without adequate funds, any organisation will achieve little or nothing. While the government is expected to play its part in this regard, it is also expected that the RBDAs would reciprocate the gesture by being truly accountable and result-oriented. This is because to whom much is given, much is expected.
This time around, there is no reason for the RBDAs to shirk their responsibilities towards the citizenry. It,  therefore, behoves each RBDA to tackle the peculiar challenges of its environment in order to keep its head above water. This is not the time for complacency.