By David Owsx\u030c<\/p>\n
The Managing Director\/Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA), Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, has officially launched the NDBDA Waterways Sanitation Corps (NDBDA-WSC) in Bayelsa State as part of activities marking World Rivers Day 2026.<\/p>\n
The launch, held at the NDBDA Area Office, Yenagoa, featured a river clean-up exercise at Oxbow Lake, Swali. The global observance, marked in over 100 countries, was celebrated this year under the theme \u201cNo Forests, No Rivers, No Water, No Life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his keynote address, Prince Amgbare said the theme resonates deeply with the Niger Delta, describing the people of the region as a people defined by water.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the confluence of the Niger and Benue at Lokoja to the creeks of Bayelsa, our rivers are not just waterways; they are our highways, our markets, our farms, our identity. World Rivers Day reminds us that if our rivers die, we die,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The MD stressed that the Blue Economy does not begin at the Atlantic Ocean, but in the forest, noting that the Niger Delta\u2019s rivers and creeks sustain over 30 million people, including fisherfolk in Brass, Nembe, Sagbama, Southern Ijaw, Ekeremor, Kolokuma\/Opokuma, Ogbia and Yenagoa.<\/p>\n
He observed that the region\u2019s mangroves, the largest in Africa, filter water, store blue carbon and nurture fisheries, but are now under siege from plastic pollution, crude oil spills, open defecation, illegal dumping, deforestation and water hyacinth invasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe link is simple: No Forests, No Mangroves; No Mangroves, No Rivers; No Rivers, No Fish; No Fish, No Life. If we fail our rivers, we fail our ocean. If we fail our ocean, we fail our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aligning the initiative with the IMO World Maritime Day theme for 2026-2027, \u201cFrom Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence,\u201d the MD said the NDBDA is moving from policy documents to people on the water.<\/p>\n
He announced the launch of the Bayelsa State Chapter of the Waterways Sanitation Corps as a community-based, youth-driven and women-inclusive volunteer initiative established under the Authority\u2019s mandate to manage and develop the water resources of the Niger Delta Basin.<\/p>\n
Its vision is to make the Niger Delta waterways the cleanest, safest and most productive in Africa.<\/p>\n
At the event, about 100 pioneer Corps members drawn from riverine communities across Bayelsa were inaugurated to serve as eco-guards and River Guardians. <\/p>\n
Their mandate includes: Removal of floating plastics, water hyacinth and debris from priority waterways; Enforcement of zero dumping, ending open defecation on waterways, and sensitizing waterfront markets; Planting of mangrove seedlings and bamboo along degraded riverbanks; Serving as River Stewards by collecting data on pollution hotspots, water quality and flood risks; Linking waste to wealth through recycling and conversion of organic waste to compost and fish feed.<\/p>\n
Quoting IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, the MD noted: \u201cWhen we talk about practice, we are talking about people. This Corps is not just about cleaning waterways; it is about powering people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prince Amgbare called on State Governments to adopt Community River Stewardship bye-laws, on Royal Fathers to declare a monthly \u201cNo Dumping on Our River Day,\u201d on private sector operators, particularly oil, gas and shipping companies, to support the Corps through CSR, and on youths to take ownership of their rivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the creeks of Bayelsa to the beaches of Zanzibar, from Limbe to the Diaspora, the message is one: Everyone can be a river steward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In his closing remarks, the Director of Hydrology and Head of Department, Mr. Peace Ebbah, underscored the importance of river clean-up exercises and highlighted the dangers of uncoordinated human activities on marine resources and livelihoods. He assured that the Authority is taking proactive steps to mitigate climate change impacts through reorientation and policy responses.<\/p>\n
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the event, the Special Assistant to the MD on Blue Economy and Convener of the Africa Blue Economy Roundtable (ABER), Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo, called on corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals in the Niger Delta to support the newly inaugurated Corps.<\/p>\n
Members of the Association of Coastal and Waterways Communities of Nigeria (ACWCN), Bayelsa State Chapter, led by State Chairman, Snr. Comr. Odede Dinikpete Tina, alongside over 50 members, were formally inaugurated into the Corps. <\/p>\n
Thanking the MD for the inclusion, she described the inauguration as a milestone in ACWCN\u2019s commitment to protecting waterways and safeguarding coastal communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis inauguration is not just an honour; it is a call to greater responsibility and service to our people and our environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By David Owsx\u030c The Managing Director\/Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA), Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, has officially launched the NDBDA Waterways Sanitation Corps (NDBDA-WSC) in Bayelsa State as part of activities marking World Rivers Day 2026. The launch, held at the NDBDA Area Office, Yenagoa, featured a river clean-up exercise at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18103,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18102\/revisions\/18103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}