Obnoxious, provocative

Editorial

The bid by the Federal Government to bring back the Water Resources Control Bill rejected by the public when it was presented as an executive bill during the eighth National Assembly speaks to an attempt by the government to override public opinion in governance. It is trite that under the democratic order, the overriding consideration is the public interest. Circumventing it by whatever means, therefore, is a hint that dictatorship is not far off. This does not sit well with the people, and, to us, it is capricious and unacceptable.

Whatever might have motivated Abubakar Fulata, house chairman on rules and business, to resuscitate the bill could not have been noble. This is borne out even the more by the specious argument that a public hearing would no longer be necessary since one was conducted by the 8th National Assembly. What gives public consent to a bill is that the public is given a voice during public sitting at which the civil society organisations, critical stakeholders, the academia, the Labour movement, among others, are afforded the opportunity to participate in analysing it. The attempt by Mr Fulata to circumvent this is therefore most reprehensible. It should be noted that even then, what killed the bill was the uproar that greeted it.

Ground water cannot by any means be ceded to the Federal Government. By virtue of section 315 (5) of the 1999 Constitution, the Land Use Act has been validated by the groundnorm. No Act passed by the National Assembly, except through amendment of the Constitution, could be valid. It is thus a waste of time to seek an amendment of a constitutional stipulation by a bill like the Water Resources Control Bill 2020.

This is an attempt to rob the states of their control of land conferred on them by the Land Use Act. This is one of the few resources over which the states, as federating units, have authority. To deprive them of the resource is to downgrade them to provinces or prefectures in a unitary setup. A look at the pernicious bill bears eloquent testimony to this. Its Section 2(1) says: “All surface water and ground water wherever it occurs, is a resource common to all people.” By the provision, not only the state government is stripped of its power, the individuals and communities that sink boreholes or wells will be acting illegally without the approval of Abuja. Section 13 takes this further: “In implementing the principles under subsection (2) of this section, the institutions established under this Act shall promote integrated water resources management and the coordinated management of land and water resources, surface water and ground water resources, river basins and adjacent marine and coastal environment and upstream and downstream interests.”

The danger inherent in this arrangement is best understood by the inefficiency of the Federal Government in harnessing solid minerals. The laws are inadequate, the structures necessary are inadequate and the funding is grossly insufficient. Hence, state governments are starved of the money that would have accrued to them to cater to the welfare and security of Nigerians in the various parts of the country. All scholars and informed politicians are unanimous in calling for devolution of power to the states. A situation by which items like public holidays, postal, rail transport, among others, are on the exclusive legislative list of the constitution is unacceptable.

Similarly, allocating more than 52 per cent of the nationally derived resources to a single tier of government jars the spirit of the federal system as conceptualised and practiced in other countries. No single tier of government should be strong enough to emasculate others as the Nigerian Federal Government.

It is in this light that this proposed encroachment on the powers and authority of the state governments should be condemned and resisted by all. If allowed to pass, the law would not only deprive the state governments of this all-important resource, but also make things more cumbersome for the individual households and small scale businesses. Obtaining permits would become difficult and corruption would set in, with officials erecting gates to fleece the common man of his hard-earned resources.

Since it was established, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources that controls the River Basin Authorities has failed to justify its establishment. Since the Second Republic when the Federal Government trumpeted a phantom Green Revolution agricultural policy, setting up the river basins to promote irrigation and agricultural development, very little has been known of this department of government.

He who owns the land owns all that is in or on it. This is a well-known dictum under our law which this government lacks the moral and political authority to change. The debate on resource control has not been fully settled, neither has the issue of coastal land and resources. We cannot afford to open another flank in our tension-soaked society. Power grabbing by the Federal Government through this bill has already excited resistance from prominent lawyers, socio-cultural organisations and well-meaning Nigerians.

If the Federal Government, both the executive and legislature, means well, it should immediately withdraw this bill. It is not even enough to open public hearing with a view to genuinely collate public opinion, it should be killed. It was rejected not too long ago by the people and it is not time to bring it up again.

Insinuation that it is an attempt to reintroduce the RUGA livestock policy that was killed by a hail of criticisms would seem justified if the government and the ruling party insist on continuing with this idea. This is a republic, not a monarchy. The Water Resources Control Bill is anti-people, against personal liberties and stiffling. The people matter, and should have the last say.