Since late last year, members of the Management Teams of the 12 River Basin Development Agencies, appointed on 18 December 2024, have been storming the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) waiting to receive their appointment letters to enable them resume at their respective Agencies.
This, however, took a new turn last week when instead of going there individually, they would first converge somewhere and then storm the Office of the SGF, in droves.
Since December, many of these appointees were simply flying into Abuja from their various locations across the country, appear at the Office of the SGF, enquire about their letters, hang around for a while return to their bases empty-handed. But since January, most of them have been living in Abuja hotels, spending their funds on hotel bills, yet they have not been able to collect the letters of appointment.
At first, the excuse from the Office of the SGF was that their letters of appointment were being delayed because the i’s were being dotted and the t’s crossed, as a result of minor inaccuracies that called for correction.
Then, the excuses progressed to the point where certain dates where mentioned categorically as the appointed days when the letters would be handed
to the appointees. But even as the days passed into weeks and then into months, it now appears to the members of the Boards that something untoward was on.
A source said it was this apprehension that necessitated their urgency and a change of tactics towards jointly pressing for their letters of appointment, especially as excuses from the SGF’s office have dried up.
The appointees have now been having meetings and would hang around every available space
waiting for news about any development.
According to a source in the OSGF, “it is hard to understand why the SGF’s office has failed to give the appointment letters to members of the 12 River Basin Authority Boards, especially as this action is definitely sabotaging the results the Tinubu administration expects from the River Basins.”
Another source explained that the situation is more serious than that when looked at from the surface because “these people who have not received their appointment letters are not actually ordinary board members but management teams of the River Basin Development Authorities, including their Managing
Directors.
He said: “The significance of this lacuna is that the day-to-day management of these River Basin Authorities are hampered as the role for which the River basins were created cannot be pursued optimally in the absence of the real management teams.
“River Basins are key factors in the food security policies of Nigeria by supporting farmers through research, infrastructure development, access to technology, and market linkages. Most of all, the River Basins control a large chunk of the nation’s arable land and the various small-scale dams scattered around the country upon which dry
season farming depend.
“Apart from ensuring sustainable water access for agriculture, the River Basin Development Authorities could stabilize Nigeria’s food supply, attract investment in the agricultural sector, create jobs in
rural areas, and contribute to overall economic stability.”
