- Says Bill Negates Human Right To Water, …A Mask To Privatize Nigeria’s Water Systems
- Asks N’Assembly To Trash Proposed Legislation
Nature’s ubiquitous gift–water– is man’s fundamental need and the human right to water has since been recognized by the United Nations General Assembly.
But in Nigeria, that right is currently under threat as a proposed piece of legislation ‘National Water Resources Bill’ which seeks to provide regulatory framework for the water sector in Nigeria has been described as an attempt to commodify water in disguise.
A group at the forefront of advocacy for citizens’ humans right to water in Nigeria, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) said the bill which has passed the second reading at the National Assembly without citizens participation, would only serve privatization interests and make access to water more difficult for Nigerians.
The New Diplomat learnt the bill, which was first introduced and discarded in 2017 by the 8th Assembly following public backlash, has made it again to the 9th Assembly and it is now steadily progressing towards passage.
The bill is being considered at a time when the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari has come under heavy criticism for some of its provisions seen as controversial and overbearing.
The proposed bill has its long title as: “A Bill for An Act to establish a Regulatory Framework for the Water Resources Sector in Nigeria, provide for the equitable and sustainable development management, use and conservation of Nigeria’s surface Water and Ground Water Resources and for related matters.”
Provisions of the bill seen by The New Diplomat seek to licence the use of water by citizens as stated in section 89 of the bill: “Subject to the provisions of sections 3 and 110 of this Act, the use of water shall be subject to licensing provisions under this part and relevant regulations.”
Section 2 states that “There shall be no private ownership of water but the right to use water in accordance with the provisions of this Act’’.
Section 16 of the bill mandates a borehole driller to get a licence before going ahead to drill. The section reads: “Subject to the provisions of this Act, no borehole driller, whether corporate or Individual shall commence borehole drilling business in Nigeria unless such driller has been issued a Water Well Driller’s Licence issued by the Commission.”
Also, section 17 of the bill mandates commercial borehole owner to get a permit from a commission to be set up by the proposed legislation, subject to renewal every five years.
Reviewing the provisions, Executive Director, CAPPA, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, at a press briefing in Lagos, observed that many sections of bill were drafted to promote the commercialization of water resources in the country, as well as allow private companies/interests to take over the management of water systems in Nigeria.
“We have outlined the anti-people and pro-privatisation sections of the Bill which makes it inevitable for us to conclude that the Bill is not intended to serve the interest of the generality of Nigerians who not only subscribe to the UN Resolution on the Human Right to Water, but also strongly believe the Bill is the first step in plans to commodify our common patrimony,” Oluwafemi said.
Condemning the regulations, he asked the federal lawmakers to trash the proposed bill, saying its regulations are “draconian.”
“It’s worrisome that the federal government has not come up with any bill that would make water available for citizens, especially now that water is needed to fight Covid-19, but surreptitiously it wants to take over the limited portable water that citizens struggled to provide for themselves,” Oluwafemi said. “The bill should be completely trashed.”
“This bill is anti-people; the human rights to water was not given consideration in the bill. How do you describe a situation where citizens have to pay to access underground water,” Comrade Benjamin Anthony, President Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) asked.
Anthony asked the 9th Assembly “to throw away the bill,” noting that its provisions are beyond amenable. He added that it will make people’s lives more miserable.
The group noted that there are many agencies and bodies mentioned in the bill with overlapping functions.
Their existence, according to the group, is conflicting and will further confuse citizens as to the extent of the powers of the agencies, bodies and authorities.
The New Diplomat in an investigative report had exposed corruption in the Lagos Water Corporation. The alleged funds mismanagement by top officials of the corporation has exacerbated the water crisis in Africa’s most populous city, amid the ongoing push for water privitization in the state by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration.
Meanwhile, as abject water scarcity persists in the country, it continues to fly against a globally implemented policy and strategy — the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 — which is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.
According to the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF), about 70 million Nigerians lacked access to safe drinking water, and over 110 million lacked access to improved sanitation in 2013 alone. Needless to say the figures must have skyrocketed seven years after.
Also, at 28.5 percent rate, open defecation poses grave public health risks in the country as an estimated 124,000 children under the age of 5 die every year because of diarrhea, mainly due to lack of access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
CAPPA, while reviewing the provisions contained in the ‘National Water Resources Bill’, stated that “On July 28, 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly recognized in explicit terms, the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights. The Resolution demanded that Nation States, especially developing countries (Nigeria inclusive), provide safe, clean, accessible, and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had, prior to that declaration adopted General Comment No.15 on the right to water, with Article I.1 specifically stating that “The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights”. Comment No. 15 also defined the right to water as the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable and physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.
“In the light of these collective declarations therefore, it is primarily obligatory for government to ensure equitable access to water by the populace, especially the most disadvantaged- regardless of economic status.
“This Bill however fails that required obligation to integrate the tenets of Human Right to water by falling short in prioritizing the normative elements of accessibility, affordability and availability of water as mutually exclusive components of the Human Rights to water by ordinary Nigerian citizens,” CAPPA stated.
