Adibe Emenyonu
A legal practitioner and President, Ijaw Community Law Centre, Dotimi Tawari, has urged the National Assembly to throw the controversial Water Resources Bill recently re-introduced into the dust-bin, arguing that if they let go, it will deny Nigerians of their identities and ‘kill’ them.
He said rather than concentrating on true federalism, the Bill is anti-federal but unitary, adding that if passed into law, it will take Nigerians back to the old days of unitary system of government where everything is concentrated at the centre (Federal Government)
The lawyer and also an environmental rights activist, who made the assertion in Benin City, Edo State yesterday , while enlightening journalists on what the Bill entails, said Water Resources Bill is an indirect way of introducing Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) and Cattle Colony.
According to him, when passed into law, the Act will automatically incorporate the Land Use Act of 1978, making every land owned by communities and state governments to be ceded to the federal government.
He said part of the bill ‘Indicate that the Delta of River Niger, and everything therein belongs to the federal government.
He said: “This is an indirect way of re-introducing RUGA and the cattle colony. When RUGA was introduced, it died; when cattle colony thing came it also died. This is the last thing to do. “Section 158 reads: Any natural or man-made water, flowing or standing on the surface of the land, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs, lagoons, wetland, swamps, creeks, deltas, etc belong to the federal government. So, with this, everything is gone.”
According to him, because of the ulterior motive behind the bill, it was sneaked into the National Assembly through the back door and was not made public until some members including the Speaker of the House of Representatives insisted that it should be made public.
He added: “They are amending the Nigerian constitution without us knowing. This is because by extension, the Land Use Act of 1978 is incorporated into this Bill.”
The environmental rights activist noted that if Nigerians allow the Bill to see the light of the day “it will be more powerful than your state government; it is like creating another country entirely inside a country.”
He therefore, urged media practitioners to rise to their social responsibility of enlightening members of the public on the ills of the Bill, adding: “That is why we say members of the press must rise to this responsibility. Your constitutional role is to be a watch dog, so make sure this Bill does not see the light of the day because if it does, we have lost our identities completely.”
