Zaria: The Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission (NIWRMC) has announced plans to digitise water use licensing and monitoring as part of reforms introduced during the first 100 days of its Executive Director, Dr. Aminu Zaria. Zaria made this announcement in Abuja while addressing journalists about the accomplishments achieved since he took office.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Zaria emphasized that this milestone underscores the commission’s dedication to safeguarding Nigeria’s water resources, enhancing national water security, and advancing President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. NIWRMC operates as Nigeria’s water regulatory authority under the Water Resources Act, aiming to promote equitable, economically, and environmentally sustainable water resources management. The commission’s responsibilities include regulating and controlling rights to develop and use water resources shared by more than one state, defining water footprint standards, and planning water resources management nationwide.
Dr. Zaria outlined NIWRMC’s operational duties, which encompass water abstraction licensing, allocation planning, monitoring and enforcement, catchment management, aquifer protection, regulatory compliance, and conflict resolution. He emphasized the commission’s crucial role in national development, food security, industrial growth, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. Assuming office on September 1, 2025, Zaria envisioned transforming NIWRMC into a disciplined, transparent, data-driven, and technology-enabled regulatory institution.
Zaria discussed the challenges faced by the commission, including deteriorated headquarters facilities, inadequate staffing, fragmented data systems, manual licensing processes, and weak enforcement capacity. Additional obstacles included dormant catchment offices, limited inter-agency collaboration, low public awareness, poor staff morale, and critical funding constraints. These issues, as Zaria noted, threatened the effective delivery of NIWRMC’s mandate amid Nigeria’s growing water demand.
In response, Zaria initiated reforms with ministerial support to restore order, strengthen systems, empower staff, and rebuild public confidence. Actions taken included staff town hall engagements, the inauguration of a think tank team, and the revival of field and catchment offices nationwide. Zaria introduced the Professionalism, Adeptness, Consistency, and Excellence (PACE) Agenda to enhance service delivery and institutional culture. Partnerships were fortified with key stakeholders for collaboration, capacity building, and data sharing.
Zaria revealed that NIWRMC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kano State Water Board to enhance water governance at the subnational level. Salaries for security and janitorial personnel were reviewed to boost staff welfare and morale. The reforms resulted in improved data availability, increased visibility, revived catchment operations, enhanced staff efficiency, and stronger inter-agency synergy. Zaria highlighted that NIWRMC is now more stable, coordinated, and strategically positioned than it was 100 days ago.
Looking to the future, Zaria announced plans to deploy a National Water Use Licensing Digital Portal to improve transparency and licensing efficiency. Monitoring networks will be expanded across catchments, and a national real-time water data observatory will be established. The commission aims to strengthen community-level compliance through partnerships with state governments, traditional institutions, and water users. Zaria concluded by expressing gratitude to President Tinubu, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, National Assembly committees, and NIWRMC staff for their support, emphasizing the goal to secure Nigeria’s water future and ensure sustainable management for generations.