By Fatimah Yusuf– In the world today, water regulations have become paramount because the resource is very crucial for human survival, industrial use and development of other sectors of the economy.
Due to the need for water regulations in the country, the Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission (NIWRMC) was established in May, 2007 by the Federal Executive Council.
The Commission is enabled by Section 17 of the Water Resources Act (Cap W2) Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 while Section 19 gave power to the Honourable Minister to make regulations for smooth running of the operations.
The creation of the Commission with field offices in 8 hydrological areas and catchments across the country was basically to assist the Honourable Minister of Water Resources to regulate and control the rights of all people to develop and use water resources shared by more than one state for sustainability, better economic efficiency, social equity and fairness.
The primary role of the Commission is to rationalize and streamline the indiscriminate development, use, diversion of and regulation of water affecting more than one state while the goals of the Commission are to develop roadmap and standards in close collaboration with all major stakeholders including relevant institutions at all levels of government, the civil society and community based organizations so as to achieve synergy to further foster socially equitable, economically efficient and environmentally sustainable use and management of water.
In line with the global best practices and the efforts to reposition the water sector to meet the emerging challenges of social and economic development, the Federal Government of Nigeria adopted the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach in the formulation of policy and planning of water resources management and regulations.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) “Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, during his familiarization visit to NIWRMC said that the Commission is mandated with the responsibility of ensuring proper administration and management of safe and sustainable water for Nigerians.
The Minister stated that the passage of an establishment Act for the Commission will enhance its capacity to enforce regulations on users of raw bulk water from transboundary sources for commercial purposes.
The Commission, as a regulatory and revenue generating agency is striving to establish a framework through the licences it issues to allow companies operate legally, this has boosted the country’s economy and contributed in making Nigeria compete favorably with other parts of the world. The Commission has generated over N74 Million through issuance of licences in the last five years.
Diversifying revenue generation through water regulation and licencing is an avenue to fast track the development of other sectors such as agricultural productivity and enhancing food security, provision of hydroelectric power, promotion of industrial development, education, health care system, water, road construction and other infrastructural development in the country.
E nactment of the bill establishing Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission (NIWRMC) by the National Assembly will lead to an increase in the generation of revenue for the country thereby translating the CommisWater sion into a major competitive contributor of revenue, away from oil. NIWRMC is committed to generating revenue through the issuance of licenses to raw bulk water users thus impacting positively on the Nigerian economy.
*Yusuf is the Resident Information and Public Relations Officer of NIWRMC
