LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers (NIWE) has called for partnership and cooperation between Nigeria and her neighbours in the management of water resources, especially the Lake Chad basin, to ensure security and peaceful development in the north – east geopolitical zone of the country.
NIWE which identified the drying up of the Nigeria’s portion of the Lake Chad basin as partly responsible for banditry, Insurgency, abductions and other violent crimes in the North, said when people whose means of livelihoods hitherto depended on the Lake Chad basin were later rendered jobless, hungry and penniless when Nigeria’s side dried up steadily and receded.
The National Chairman of NIWE, Dr. Adeyinka Sobowale, who made the call at Bolude Engineering Centre Abeokuta, the state capital, while addressing the press to mark this year’s edition of Water Day, said that farmers, herders, fishermen and others whose daily activities indirectly revolved around the lake Chad water found themselves without means of survival again, stressing that this situation instigated some of them into banditry, insurgency and kidnapping to survive.
READ ALSO: Rising Insecurity In S/East May Affect Single Women- Group
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Water for Peace” and attended by members of NIWE from the state.
Sobowale attributed the drying of Lake Chad, especially Nigeria’s side, to damming of the rivers, desertification and climate change which robbed the lake of hitherto natural sources of water, noting that Nigeria should have sought partnership with other stakeholders – Cameroon, Chad, to address the challenges.
He also called on the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) to urgently establish water regulatory agencies to adequately regulate and monitor water service providers in their respective domains.
The NIWE National chairman said such state agencies should have the responsibility to certify water production, storage and distribution in their various states, lamenting that 179 million Nigerians did not have access to safely managed drinking water services as of December 2021.
READ ALSO: Weāll Support Your Fight Against Insecurity ā Wike Assures CDS
Sobowale who attributed the high rate of water borne disease cases often presented in primary and post – primary healthcare facilities across the country to inadequate or absence of effective regulation of drinking water supply sources in the country, said states regulatory agencies should come on board to bridge the gap.
He said it will be of utmost public health safety if the states have regulatory agencies to regulate, monitor and certify water resources service providers in their domains, saying because of the vastness of the country and its population size, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has been trying but can’t continue to do it alone.
“It has become imperative for all States to establish water regulatory agencies to adequately regulate the activities of (water) service providers in their respective domains for public health safety,” he said.
He also urged the 36 states of the federation to develop Water Resources and Water Supply Master Plan with a well-defined action plan for its Implementation.
According to him, knowing the location and quantum of water resources within a state’s jurisdiction, will help in proper planning of its harnessing, management and preservation.