BY TAYO TAIWO, Abuja
The Federal Government has launched a 5-year compendium on Water Resources Development in Nigeria, which detailed the major achievements of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and its agencies.
The launch was made by the Minister of the Ministry, Engr. Suleiman Adamu during the media Water week where he highlighted his stewardship from the period of 2015 to year 2020.
The Minister stated that, the presentation of the 5-year Compendium to the general public was to afford Nigerians the opportunity to primarily document institutional memory and provide a platform for the public to access information on the activities of the Ministry in the last five years.
This is even as Adamu called for proper regularization of the water sector to attract more investors through enabling legal framework like the Water Resources Bill which was presented to the National Assembly since year 2018.
According to him “Although, we have recorded considerable success as outlined in the Compendium, a lot more can be achieved with enabling legal framework for proper regulation of the sector to attract investors.
“In this regard, I wish to solicit your support and maximum cooperation in the enlightenment of all Nigerians on the benefits of the National Water Resources Bill and the need to pass it into law,” Adamu said.
He also reiterated on the actions and advocacies being undertaken by Nigeria to save the Lake Chad Basin for economic benefits and security of the region.
“Permit me to remind you of the increasing degradation of Lake Chad’s ecosystem which made it necessary for Governments of LCBC’s member countries to take some strategic measures to address the drying of the lake. You would also recall Nigeria’s USD5million support for the feasibility studies of the inter-basin water transfer from Ubangi-Congo River to the Lake Chad basin.
“In 2018, Nigeria hosted the International Conference on Lake Chad which climaxed with “the Abuja Declaration” signed by the Heads of State and Governments of LCBC and endorsement of the Inter-Basin Water Transfer (IBWT) Project as the most viable option to revive the Lake. Advocacy is still being intensified to attract additional support of international communities towards implementation of the project for improved livelihood and security in the region,” the Minister added.
However, Adamu declared that the ministry has been able to complete 13Nos major water supply projects out of the 41 Nos Projects on Water Supply that have been abandoned.
He therefore enjoins every individual to maximise water rightly as “We all know, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene are crucial to life and socio-economic development of the nation,”
