River basins should be revived if agriculture must strive – Oduah, Others

-Stella Oduah representing Anambra north senatorial district called for restructuring of the river basins

– She said it will create employment for youths

– Senator John Enoh representing Cross River central senatorial district said 11 RBDAs created by the Federal government of Nigeria  in 1976 is to provide water for irrigation and domestic water supply

Senator Stella Oduah  representing Anambra north senatorial district on Thursday, March 3 called for the revival of the non functional river basins by the River Basin Development Authority to ensure a forward leap in agricultural production.

She disclosed this while contributing to the motion titled: Need to Revive & Resuscitate River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) which she co sponsored with 16 other lawmakers.

“My major concern is that we are not harnessing our river basins, fishing deficit is about  65% not because we are not fishing enough but because storage is a huge challenge.

“For us to create employment we must think about how to resuscitate the river Basin they must not be neglected, the government has to work on developing the potential skills abundant in the riverine areas, revive the dying basins and even establish new ones to boast Agricultural production and drive local economy.

“I support the motion the river basin must be carefully studied and resuscitated “,Oduah added

Senator John Enoh representing Cross River central senatorial district and the sponsor of the bill noted with regret that despite  Nigeria ‘s vast arable lands and abundance of water and river basin resources to induce all year round farming activities she is still trapped in rained Agriculture.

READ ALSO: Court Dismisses Petition Challenging Stella Oduah As Senator

He further stated that the 11 RBDAs created by the Federal government of Nigeria  in 1976 is to provide water for irrigation and domestic water supply, improvement of navigation, recreation facilities and fisheries project and is yet to be fulfilled after 39 years.

In his contribution. Biodun Olujimi representing Ekiti south senatorial district said the major problems with RBDAs is inconsistency in government policies, adding that it will help boast food production and Agricultural trade if revived.

“We have to ensure that the RBDAS function and function well, and not pay lip service in a change government without the change coming,” she added

Senator Abdullah Adamu representing Nassarawa west senatorial district also noted that the objectives of boasting agriculture will not be totally achieved if RBDAs are not revived.

The Senate resolved to urge the Minister of Water Resources and order related officials to focus on factors militate NG the performance of the RBDAs and proffer critical insight on way forward.

They also mandated the Senate Committee on Water Resources to physically inspect and assess the 11 RBDAs and report back to the senate in eight weeks.

However, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA) predicted that regardless, there will not be a lot of rain this year, areas located at River Basins, Niger and Benue, Sokoto-Rima, Anambra, Cross River, Niger Delta and several other sub-basins of the country.

The areas will experience river flooding in 2015. This was disclosed by the Director General of the NHSA, Moses Beckley in a book presentation titled 2015 Annual Flood Outlook” at Abuja yesterday.

He said that the country  will witness lower rainfall this year than last year.

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