The Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu has blamed the state Governors for failing to cascade beneficial policies of the federal government to the communities.
To curb the challenge, Adamu called for more collaboration between the Federal government and subnational governments for the benefit of rural dwellers.
He said, “There must be political support from the States and Local Governments Levels.” He noted that if this happens, the community members would have the opportunity to appreciate the Federal Government’s effort at making life meaningful for them and would effortlessly protect Government’s infrastructure that are located in their various communities.
Adamu spoke during the valedictory forum he organized for correspondents attached to cover the Ministry’s programmes and activities, The Minister applauded the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on the level of projects executed despite the fact that the Administration inherited a lean budget from the previous administrations.
He explained that “the challenge has just been a big adventure that this Administration found itself. I’m sure if this Administration was in office in 2007 when Nigeria had a lot of income and the resources were available, I think this Government would have done a lot better.
“This Administration has done a lot of investments, this Government has not enjoyed tangible revenue to make a lot of Services but we have been able to do as much as we can, better than a lot of others that had the resources before this Administration.”
According to him, the Government was aggressively pursuing the passage of the Water Resources Bill because of the enormous advantages associated with the Bill.
He reiterated that 96 percent of the bill is already existing and that the states will have the privilege of drawing from the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) funds essentially for execution of prioritized Project in the water sector.
He noted that all hope is not lost about the passage of the Bill because the Bill is still in the National Assembly and what the Legislators do with it is purely prerogative.
In another development, the valedictory l forum also witnessed the celebration of the Director, Press and Public Relations Unit of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs. Kenechukwu Offie, who will be exiting from the Federal Civil Service on the 14th May, 2023 after a meritorious service of 35 years, stated on Thursday in statement.
