FG inaugurates 12-man Management Team to re-position River Basin Authorities

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources on Monday in Abuja inaugurated a 12-man Executive Management Team to oversee the management of existing River Basin Development Authorities across the country.
Addressing the team, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said the Federal Government’s target was to ensure that the river basin authorities boosted food security and promoted socio-economic development.
According to him, the re-positioning of the sector is to help meet the agricultural policy trust of the central government.
He said revitalising the river basin authorities would also go a long way to create opportunities for employment generation.
Adamu said: “It is saddening that they have not met their expectations since creation.”
He said the Federal government was collaborating with the Bureau for Public Enterprises and ICRC to commercialise the river basins, adding that it was the sure way to make them viable.
He said: “In the last one year, we had taken concrete steps to resuscitate the RBDAs, the first of which was to develop an action plan and blue print.
“The blueprint that includes `quick win’ interventions with the objectives of restoring mandate, building institutional capacity, maximising operations and output of the RBDAs.
“We are also collaborating with BPE and ICRC to midwife the RBDAs towards partial and eventual full commercialisation with little or no dependence on government for funding.
“The new management team of the RBDAs is now tasked to turn around the performance of the RBDAS to become more efficient in the delivery of established mandate.”
Adamu urged the members to desist from playing politics with their assigned duties, saying they should adhere to transparency and accountability in all of their dealings.
Responding on behalf of the newly inaugurated members, Michael Nwabufo, the Managing Director, Anambra/Imo River basin Development Authority, expressed optimism that they would live to their expectations.
He said the mandate given to them would be judiciously used towards restructuring the river basins to promote food security and employment for the citizens.
Other members are: Saliu Ahmed – Benin-Owena River Basin; Abba Garba – Chad Basin; Bassey Nkposong, Cross River Basin; Khalid Abdullahi-Hadejia – Jama’are River Basin; Mahmoud Adra-Lower, Benue River Basin Development; and Adeniyi Aremu – Lower Niger River Basin.
The rest are: Tonye David-West – Niger Delta River Basin; Olufemi Odumosu – Ogun/ Osun River Basin; Bature Mohammed – Sokoto Rima River Basin; Abubakar Muazu -Upper Benue River Basin; and Abdulkarim Ali-Upper Niger River Basin.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last week approved the reconstitution of the executive management of river basin development authorities under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.