Business

Stakeholders Want Implementation Of N85bn Water Resources Budget

Published

9 years ago

June 14, 2017

Stakeholders in the water sector on Tuesday called for full implementation of the N85 billion earmarked for the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in 2017 budget.
They told The Tide source in Abuja that doing this would go a long way in ensuring that the country meets its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets by 2030.
The stakeholders added that it would also improve access to water and sanitation for all.
Mr Oseloka Zikora, Outgoing Programmes Coordinator, Africa Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), said there was the need for increasing funding for the water and sanitation sector.
According to him, investing in this sector will have a ripple effect on other sectors, which would lead to overall development.
“Increasing funding for water resources development would have a value adding impact on all other sectors such as health, reduction in water borne diseases, availability of water and sanitation facilities would improve school enrollment.
“We also believe that when you invest in water resources development, it would have multiplier effect on energy, because when you build multipurpose dam, you are able to get energy resource from that,” he said.
Zikora, who is also the Chairman, Governing Board, Federal Polytechnic Offa, said this would also promote irrigation and agriculture towards increasing food production and job opportunity for teeming unemployed youths.
Mr Victor Olaomi, Coordinator, Alliance for Hygiene Promotion, said the total amount for the sector was great, saying emphasis should be placed on projects that would touch the lives of people, especially in rural areas.
He said: “we really commend the Federal Government for the increase, if you look at what we have now and in previous years, you would see that there is improvement.
“It is commendable, but there is a lot more that can be done, we call for more capital projects that will have direct impact on the people.
“We call for projects that will directly benefit the people in terms of water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and not just building infrastructure alone.”
Olaomi said transforming the lives of Nigerians, especially in rural areas, would have direct impact on how inclusive development could be for the nation.
He urged state governments to take a cue from what the Federal Government was doing in terms improving their own budgets for water, saying transforming lives happen mostly at the state and local government levels.
He said access to water supply and sanitation was the first step to overcoming poverty, saying that there was the need for stakeholders to consciously prioritise water supply. He also called for effective measures to ensure that capital projects were completed; stressing that there should be an end to abandoned projects.
Ms Priscilla Achakpa, the National Coordinator, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) Nigeria, bemoaned the low priority given to the sanitation sector, as the bulk of the money was for Integrated Water Resource Management and River Basins.
The coordinator, who commended the increase in budget to the water sector, however, lamented that the issues of sanitation and hygiene had not been getting the desired governments’ attention.
Achakpa then stressed the need to scale-up funding to sanitation, hygiene and gender, noting that NGOs also needed to scale up awareness for government to realise the importance of funding the sector.

Business

Boat Mishap Kills Pastor, Wife And Church Members In Brass Water

Published

16 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

A boat accident in Bayelsa state has killed a serving Pastor, Wife and other church members along Brass waterways

The sad incident happened at Odioama in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State when the Pastor, wife and members of his church were in a programme.

?Tide confirmed that the lifeless body of the Pastor’s wife has been found and deposited in a mortuary while the remains of her husband ,the Pastor is yet to be recovered

as search party are still ongoing.

Although the real cause of the boat Mishap is not yet known as at the time of this report, our Correspondent gathered that the identities of the Pastor, wife and church members were not disclosed to the public.

The mishap, Tide gathered occurred on Friday morning when the church members were on a boat transit

The Bayelsa State government and the state police command are yet to issue official statement’s on the sad accident

By: CHINEDU WOSU

Business

Rivers Workers Seek Scrapping Of Contributory Pension Scheme

Published

16 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Rivers State Council of Nigeria Civil Service Union has called on the State Government to urgently scrap the contributory pension scheme, describing it as unfavourable to long-serving civil servants in the state.

Chairman of the union, Chukwuka Osuma, said this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, recently.

Osuma said the current pension structure has continued to worsen post-retirement hardship for workers.

He noted that the contributory pension scheme had failed to provide adequate retirement security for workers who had spent many years in service, especially those approaching retirement age.

According to him, civil servants who had served for more than 20 years were among the worst affected under the scheme, insisting that many retirees could no longer cope with prevailing economic realities.

He also informed that the Union has made moves to showcase their concerns, pleading with Governor Siminalayi Fubara to abolish the pension policy and introduce a more favourable arrangement for affected workers.

“The union was not opposed to pension reforms, the contributory scheme should only apply to newly employed workers or those with fewer years in service”, he said.

Osuma explained that workers who had already spent decades in the civil service ought to remain under a more secure pension structure capable of guaranteeing stability after retirement.

The labour leader further noted that inflation and the rising cost of living had continued to erode the value of retirement savings, thereby increasing the suffering of pensioners across the country.

He also appealed to the state government to consider extending the years of service in the civil service from 35 to 40 years and the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Osuma argued that such adjustment had become necessary in view of present-day economic realities and changing conditions in the workplace.

The unionist also reviewed that similar policies had already been adopted in some sectors and jurisdictions, expressing optimism that the State could also implement the reforms for the benefit of workers.

He however, commended Governor Fubara for approving an N85,000 minimum wage for workers in the state, noting that the amount was above the national benchmark of N70,000.

Osuma also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the area of workers’ promotions and bonuses, but insisted that pension reforms and extension of years of service remained critical to the long-term welfare and stability of civil servants in Rivers State.

By: King Onunwor

Business

FG Begins South-West Tour To Promote New Cooperative Bank

Published

6 days ago

May 13, 2026

The Tide

The Federal Government has launched the South-West zonal engagement and ministerial advocacy tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria share capital mobilisation, sensitisation and cooperative sector digitalisation.

Reports say the initiative was launched through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

According to reports, the advocacy tour, organised by the ministry’s Federal Department of Cooperatives, began on Monday in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, said the initiative was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Abdullahi described the exercise as a strategic effort to reposition the cooperative sector as a key driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity.

“Today represents a defining moment in our collective determination to reposition the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity,” he said.

The minister noted the modern cooperative movement in Nigeria originated in the South-West following the 1934 Strickland Report, which led to the enactment of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance of 1935.

According to him, the decision to commence the sensitisation and share capital mobilisation tour in the region is symbolic, as it marks a return to the roots of cooperative development in the country.

Abdullahi said the advocacy tour was a direct outcome of resolutions reached at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs held in Abuja in March 2026.

He said the council approved the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, a comprehensive framework designed to strengthen the cooperative sector and align it with the administration’s goal of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.

“The reform programme focuses on seven strategic pillars, including governance reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, and strategic partnerships,” he said.

He said the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and the digitalisation of the cooperative sector were the two major transformational initiatives under the programme.

“The Cooperative Bank of Nigeria is aimed at rebuilding a strong cooperative financial system capable of supporting cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youths, women and persons with disabilities with accessible and affordable financial services,” he said.

Abdullahi emphasised that the proposed bank would be government-enabled but not government-funded.

“Government is not establishing the bank as an owner, nor will it rely on Treasury Single Account funds.

“The role of government through the FMAFS is to provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, regulatory facilitation and an enabling environment under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme,” he said.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to cooperative sector transformation.

She described cooperatives as critical tools for promoting inclusive growth, grassroots productivity, food security, financial inclusion and community wealth creation.

Ambrose-Medebem said Lagos State would continue to support reforms and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (2025–2030).

“Together, let us build a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, transparent, digitally enabled, financially inclusive and globally competitive.

“Let us build cooperatives that not only mobilise savings, but also mobilise prosperity,” she said.