Water Bill not in national interest – Gani Adams

Also speaking, the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has said the Inland Waterways Bill re-presented was not in national interest.

Besides, he said the bill was against the principle of federalism and smacks of selfish agenda.

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Adams in a statement by his special assistant on media, Kehinde Aderemi, said queried the reintroduction of the bill.

“If the federal government actually succeeds in controlling the water- ways, then the states are left with nothing to survive.

“For instance, Osun Osogbo remains one of the tourism destinations and revenue generation resources for the Osun state. Many like that are spread all over the country. This cruel and selfish agenda must not fly because it is against the general principle of federalism.

“The FG couldn’t manage over 300 agencies and parastatals belonging to it, yet it is trying to strangle the states from their natural resources and endowments. The intention of the FG is to control all the waters and their surrounding banks in all parts of Nigeria.

“This is fraught with tension and suspicion because it would give the federal government the power to control the nation’s rivers (especially those that pass through more than one state).

“It is purely a direct assault on the principle of Federalism. The idea of centralizing all the resources, both human and natural resources in the hands of the Federal Government is killing and could lead to avoidable crisis between the federal and the state governments,” the statement said.