World Water Day: Expert calls for restoration of degraded water bodies, wetlands

An Environmental Activist, Dr Nnimmo Bassey has called for the restoration of degraded water bodies and wetlands everywhere in Nigeria by extension, Africa and the world at large.

This was contained in a statement issued by his Media and Communications Lead, Kome Odhomor on Friday in commemoration of World Water Day with the theme, “Water for Peace” aimed at drawing awareness to the need to tackle the global existential water crises.

Bassey who is also the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, decried the massive destruction of water bodies by mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities, dredging activities and the development of infrastructure in critical freshwater ecosystems.

He regretted that water, which is an element of the commons, has been converted into a commodity by crude capitalists.

He disclosed that only 3% of the total water available on earth is freshwater and only about half of this amount is accessible to people in the form of rivers, lakes and groundwater, adding that others are stored in other ways including ice and glaciers.

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“Water is not a commodity for privatization. We must treat our waters with respect because water is life and access to clean water, the right to safe water to meet daily needs is a fundamental human right. It is important that our rivers, creeks, lagoons, and oceans are treated sanely and not seen as waste dumps.

“The world must wake up from the deep slumber and push for collective actions to save our freshwater and its ecosystems. Beyond our need to secure our potable water sources, our entire aquatic ecosystems must be secured to promote cultural practices, preserve knowledge and enhance livelihoods, especially for our fisher folks.

“Governments must ensure that polluted waters and other destroyed environments are cleaned and restored,” the statement observed.

Bassey, however, called for adequate sanctions on polluters of water bodies, noting that plastics and toxic items dumped in waters get eaten by fish and enter the food chain, thereby endangering health on land.

On his part, the Coordinator of Fishnet Alliance, Stephen Oduware, said the intrinsic value of water cannot be over-emphasized as it is the basis of life forms on Earth.

He added, “While climate change can be blamed for droughts and related water crises faced in the world today, there have been direct interference with our water-bodies causing pollution from the dumping of wastes and release of harmful chemicals from industries, including those in the petroleum sector, into our water bodies and intensify shortages of potable water.”