Don’t Scrap Water Resources Ministry, Experts Beg Buhari
As President Muhammadu Buhari is planning to cut expenditure in governance through a proposed lean cabinet, experts in the field of water and development initiatives have called on him to spare the Ministry of Water Resources the rod of impending merger of government ministries, agencies and parastatals.
The National President, Association of Water Well Drilling, Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP), Michael Ale in company of other experts in the association like General Secretary Yemi Adeyemi noted that for whatever reform is to be instituted by Buhari and his team, he should prioritise water ministry and allow it to stay as an entity.
They spoke at a news conference tagged ‘Nigeria of my Dream’ in Ibadan, Oyo state capital where they asked the government to focus attention on developing water resources sector. According to them, “water is critical to life. Let us focus more on water through integrated approach to solving water problems in Nigeria by institutionalising a culture of safe and clean water environment for Nigerians in order to wage war against water borne diseases and dreaded diseases like cancer and the likes.
Specifically, Ale, a water Engineer and renowned development practitioner stressed the need for the government to jettison politics in handling those to man water ministry, saying, “President Buhari should write his name in gold as first President who appoints a technocrat with requisite educational background and expertise to handle water ministry to solve myriads of problems confronting the sector and safe Nigerians from water-related health hazards.”
He expressed regret that throughout the recent electioneering campaigns that mid-wifed the current office holders at the states and federal levels, the issue of how to tackle water problems was not discussed, a development that was giving AWDROP sleepless nights on the future of the industry and water needs of all Nigerians.
To this end, he called on the government to standardise water industry in the country, stressing that doing so would go a long way in check mating quackery and health hazards and other illegal activities in the sector.