Bayelsa Assembly Candidate Says Water Resources Bill Worse Than Land Use Act

DEACON FELIX WILSON CAMPAIGN COUNCIL (DFWCC)

MEDIA DIRECTORATE

Press Release

26/8/2022

Bayelsa Assembly Candidate Flays National Assembly’s reintroduction of Water Resources Bill

The BOOT Party candidate for the Bayelsa state House of Assembly elections for Sagbama Constituency 2 in the 2023 general elections, Deacon Felix Wilson, has condemned in strong terms, the reintroduction on the floor of the National Assembly, the controversial Water Resources Bill, describing the move as a very dangerous precedent in the legislative history of the country.

Deacon Felix Wilson who asserted that the Water resources bill is an obnoxious and draconian piece of inequitable legislation calculated to further impoverish, annihilate and emasculate the Niger Delta, stated that the bill, if passed into law, would bring untold hardship not only to the Ijaws  but  also to other ethnic nationalities who depend solely on the rich  natural water biodiversity and land resources to survive.

He said this untoward development contravenes and violates extant international treaties, laws and conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory including but not limited to the African Charter on Human and People’s rights which guarantees the unfettered right to the use of the natural environment.

A statement by the Director, Media and Strategic Communications, Deacon Felix Wilson Campaign Council, Mr Famous Obebi Famous, quoted the candidate as having made the remarks in Yenagoa while fielding questions from journalists.

Deacon Felix Wilson observed that while the Land Use Act of 1979 which had effectively expropriated the Land and oil resources of the Niger Delta, has continued to receive heavy knocks from the local and international community, it  was baffling that the Nigerian nation was allowing the handshake to go beyond the elbow by attempting to further seize the water resources of the Niger Delta through the backdoor.

The BOOT Party Assembly flagbearer for Sagbama Constituency 2, cautioned that at a time when the nation was battling with a myriad of security challenges in the northern and eastern parts which had necessitated calls for the impeachment and resignation of President Muhamadu Buhari, it would amount to cutting their nose to spite their faces or shooting themselves in the foot if the National Assembly went ahead to pass the Bill into law.

He advised key stakeholders in the Nigerian project to think circumspectivey and introspectively in order not to torpedo the existing tranquility and serenity in the Niger Delta especially as the nation prepares for another round of elections, calling on Presidential candidates to bear in mind the imperative need for the equitable  restructuring of the polity..

Deacon Wilson asserted that the bill when passed into law, has far reaching socio-economic implications for the human ecosystem of the Niger Delta as it appears to be criminally targeted at totally depriving the region, access to the rivers, streams, lakes, the ocean, the fishes, prawns, and underwater natural aquatic bodies, as ownership of both the surface and underground water would immediately revert to the Federal government and, therefore, indigenous communities would be legally required to obtain permission from government before they could enjoy their God given occupation such as fishing.

He lamented that with the politics of oil resources in Nigeria taking a heavy toll on the people amidst the social dislocations and contradictions in the mining of natural resources such as gold in northern Zamfara and artisanal refineries in the southern belt, it was time for natural justice, equity and good conscience to prevail in governance.

The legislative hopeful for Sagbama Constituency 2, said while the strident calls for resource control and fiscal federalism has been the basis of the Ijaw struggle, it would be foolhardy if the lawmakers played into the hands of mischief makers who have consistently considered the Niger Delta as a Whipping Boy and Man Friday good only as lackeys, contrary to the recommendations of the Henry Willinks Commission report of 1958 which specifically recognized the region as a special area requiring urgent developmental attention.

Deacon Felix Wilson remarked that what is even more appalling was that Section 120 of the said bill makes it compulsory for Nigerians to obtain drillers permit from the Federal government before sinking boreholes in their homes.

He, therefore, called on all well meaning Nigerians occupying littoral states as well as Faith Based and Community Based Organizations as well as Human rights advocacy groups, the Ijaws Youth Council and Ijaw National Congress, to rise to the occasion and work assiduously in synergy to sound the death knell of the obnoxious bill, once and for all.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2017 presented the controversial bill to the eighth National Assembly but, following public outcry, it was shot down only to be reintroduced in the ninth National Assembly in 2020 and then, for the umpteenth time, in 2022.

Signed

Famous Obebi Famous

Director, Media & Strategic Communications