Federal
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi last week Friday in
Lagos, explained to sand miners and other users of Nigerian inland waterways
that the authority to regulate activities on the waterways in Nigeria belongs
to National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
Dr.
Fayemi who was in Lagos as part of his Ministry’s nationwide town hall meeting
with stakeholders held at Oriental Hotel Victoria Island, noted that the law of
the land specifically mandated NIWA to manage and control all activities on all
water bodies in Nigeria and that fact has not changed.
“The
position of the law as I understand it is that everyone who needs to do
business on Nigeria waterways needs NIWA permit and that position has not
changed, “so if you need to do sand mining or related activities, you must
approach NIWA to get permit and that is the position of law today”.
Dr.
Fayemi while responding to the various issues, particularly on sand mining in
Lagos, noted that NIWA and the Ministry of Mines will work together to ensure
that stakeholders are protected and pleaded to all concerned to be patient
until the federal agencies, that is NIWA and Mines ministry work out modalities
that will be acceptable to all.
“I
have taken notice of the sad development whereby many organizations or
individuals rush to the courts to obtain judgments. We are studying the
scenario but I will urge that all concerned give us chance to sort things out.
NIWA and Mines Ministry work for the federal government and therefore cannot
fight each other. We at the Ministry of Mines are also part of the ongoing
review of the NIWA act at the National Assembly, so we understand ourselves and
cannot be at logger heads”.
In
a brief response, NIWA area manager in Lagos, Engineer Muazu Sambo explained
that Dr. Kayode Fayemi was right in his observations and noted that all
decisions taken by NIWA in Lagos were approved by the leadership of the
regulatory body in Lokoja where its headquarters is located.
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| Muazu Sambo |
“I
want to thank the minister for his candid position on the NIWA law and to add
that NIWA in Lagos does nothing on its own without the express approval of the
management led by Boss Mustapha”, he noted.
Mr.
Sambo explained further that NIWA regulatory fees or charges are not taxes as
captured by the Nigerian Tax Policy and therefore encourage stakeholders to
reach out to the Lagos office for clarifications before making unfounded allegations.
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