Federal government not responsible for water provision – Minister

Suleiman Adamu, who is the Minister for Water Resources, has denied that it is the responsibility of the Federal government to supply water to Nigerian homes.

This responsibility according to his claim during the interview, is vested in the states and local governments.

”Nigerians need to understand that it is not the responsibility of the federal government to provide water to people in their houses. It is the responsibility of the state governments to do that, and local governments going down further. That is why this ministry does not have a water board.

“The only federal water board that we have is the one that is managed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration. And that, of course, is for the Federal Capital Territory. So it’s not under the municipal taxes.

“So, every time people ask me that there is no water in their towns. I tell them, go and ask your states. In the last four decades or so, the federal government has built over 400 dams, I think. We just launched the compendium on dams last year across the country. There are over 500 dams that have been captured”.

Going further he said, “Almost 400 of the dams were built by the federal government and that’s the role that we play; we provide bulk water; we go and build the dams. And it is for the states to now tap into that water, treat it and distribute. That’s the way it is supposed to be.”

In April 2010 when Goodluck Jonathan appointed Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah as Minister of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources became separate from the Ministry of Agriculture.