NDBDA launches water ways sanitation corps during World Rivers Day 2026

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA), Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, has launched the NDBDA Waterways Sanitation Corps (NDBDA-WSC) in Bayelsa State to mark World Rivers Day 2026.

The launch, held at the NDBDA Area Office, Yenagoa, featured a river clean-up exercise at Oxbow Lake, Swali. The global observance was held under the theme: “No Forests, No Rivers, No Water, No Life.”

Amgbare stated that the theme was particularly relevant to the Niger Delta, where rivers and creeks serve as highways, markets, farms and a vital part of the people’s identity.

He said the region’s waterways sustain more than 30 million people, including fisher folk, while its mangroves support fisheries, filter water and store blue carbon.

The NDBDA chief warned that plastic pollution, oil spills, open defecation, illegal dumping, deforestation and water hyacinth were threatening the region’s rivers and livelihoods.

He declared that “there is no Blue Economy without clean rivers,” stressing that the health of the rivers is directly linked to the survival of the ocean and the regional economy.

Amgbare said the waterways sanitation corps would move the authority from policy to practical action, with the Bayelsa chapter established as a community-based, youth-driven and women-inclusive initiative.

About 100 pioneer members from riverine communities were inaugurated as eco-guards and River Guardians, with responsibilities, including removing plastics and debris, controlling water hyacinth, promoting proper waste disposal, and planting mangroves and bamboo.

The corps will also collect data on pollution hotspots, water quality and flood risks, while promoting recycling and the conversion of organic waste into compost and fish feed.

Amgbare urged governments to adopt community river stewardship bye-laws, traditional rulers to declare a monthly “No dumping on Our River Day,” and oil, gas and shipping companies to support the initiative through corporate social responsibility.

Director of Hydrology, Mr. Peace Ebbah, and the Special Assistant to the Managing Director on Blue Economy, Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo, called for sustained action and support for the corps.

Members of the Association of Coastal and Waterways Communities of Nigeria, Bayelsa State chapter, also joined the initiative, describing the inauguration as a commitment to protecting waterways and coastal communities.