Niger, others seek speedy passage of HYPADEC bill
From Abodunrin Beckley, Minna
THREE states affected by the damming of the River Niger have called for speedy passage of the hydro power producing areas development commission (HYPADEC) bill to tackle devastating effects of flooding.
The states, Niger, Kwara and Kogi warned that further delay in passing the bill to give birth to the commission could spell doom for their people next month when rains are expected to be heavy, causing flooding that often leaves the people in tears.
According to the secretaries to governments of the three states, since flooding has become a yearly menace, any delay in the take off of the commission would wreak havoc, which could reverse gains made by the states within the Niger flood plains.
Rising from a meeting in Minna, the SSGs told reporters that they were not comfortable with the delay allegedly caused by President Olusegun Obasanjo who "halted the bill sponsored by Isa Seidu and propounded by the House of Representatives by refusing to sign it into law."
The SSGs said: "the President stepped down our bill to give us something better than we proposed but the delay is becoming uncomfortable and the ultimate effect would be on us when floods devastate our people.
"We are not comfortable with the slow pace of the Presidency because by September, the rains would be here and it is only God that would intervene when our peoples' farmlands, houses, cattle and children are swept away."
Erena said he did not believe that the President would understand the problems of the people here "better than our representatives who have put such requirements in the bill.
"There are lots of contradictions in the President's position and our representatives which is why we are meeting to harmonise the grey areas for speedy passage of the bill and take-off of the commission when it is signed."
Chief Ishola Ojo, the Kogi State SSG, ruled out the inclusion of states, which are not affected directly by floods from the Niger and Shiroro dams in the bill.
According to him, such states cannot be classified along the four, which have suffered substantial damage as a result of artificial lakes created by the dams.
He said that whatever the Presidency was planning should not be different from the basic function of the bill, which is to "ameliorate the problems of the people in the areas of transportation, health, agriculture, housing, urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications and education", which are primary to people living along the tributaries of River Niger.
For Alhaji Salmon Ibrahim, Kwara State SSG, quick passage of the bill will give rise to speedy development of the agro sector which his governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki is interested in.
He said that it was not true that farming communities along the flood plain of the Niger River were protesting the arrival of Zimbabwean farmers to engage in mechanised farming at the Kwara end of the plain.`
