Naomi Gabriel —
Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, yesterday called for collective responsibility and increased awareness to protect the country’s rivers and water sources. Adamu, who made the call at the maiden commemoration of the 2021 World Rivers Day, with the theme “Water Ways in our Communities”, said rivers currently faced threats of pollution, climate change, and urbanization.
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According to him, the day is an avenue to seek an effective response to various threats to rivers and seek innovative ways of improving the quality of river water.
“The importance of this event cannot be overemphasised, given the benefits of rivers to the socio-economic life and well-being of all nations globally.
“As we know, rivers supply water and nutrients to different parts of the earth for the sustenance of living organisms, while also acting as drainage channels for surface run-off water.
“Report has it that rivers drain about 75 per cent of the earth’s land surface thereby providing transportation routes, source of energy and fertile soil for farming,’’ the minister said.
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“Apart from the supply of food in the form of nutrients, rivers also provide habitat for aquatic plants and animals. In view of the above, it is evident that rivers play a very key role in the economic survival of any nation,” he said.
The minister said that, in recent times, the importance of clean fresh water in the fight against COVID-19 had been highlighted severally, highlighting the day as a timely opportunity for millions of people around the world to celebrate its importance.
He said that many activities had been set aside to commemorate the day with Symbolic River Clean-up of some selected River sites and tree planting activities.
