Three global institutions –the World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – have ranked Nigeria very low in provision of potable water for its fast-growing population. The organisations, in separate reports to mark the recent “World Water Week,” urged government at all levels in the country to give water supply and sanitation priority attention in their budgets.

We lend our support to these calls because water is life.  No investment will be too much for the government to make in aid of the provision of this essential resource for the citizens. In its own report, the World Bank said a survey it conducted in Nigeria in 2015 was damning. It revealed that not more than 10 percent of Nigerians in urban areas have access to clean water. This figure, it noted, was lower than the 29 percent recorded 25 years earlier. In a statement signed by the Bank’s Country Director in Nigeria, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud, in Abuja, the government of Nigeria and those   of some other countries, failed to maintain water infrastructure and have been struggling to cope with water supply to their growing populations during the year covered by the report.                            

Nigeria was only better than Haiti, which recorded seven percent on provision of clean water. The World Bank is very realistic in its advice: It says Nigeria must improve funding of water and sanitation projects, or risk consequences for the health and wellbeing of its people. The way forward, it said, will be for countries like Nigeria to quadruple their spending in order to deliver universal safe water and sanitation to reduce childhood diseases and meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of providing access to safe water and affordable sanitation by 2030.   

In the same vein, UNICEF and WHO said that in conflict-affected areas in the North-East of Nigeria ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency, “75 per cent of water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, leaving about 3.6million people without basic water services.” The UNICEF also stated that more than 183 million people, especially children, out of an estimated 483 million people across the globe living in these fragile areas, are four times more likely to lack access to basic drinking water. Those most vulnerable are people in war-torn countries like Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen and Syria, where malnourished children have become a pitiable sight. They are all in urgent need of safe water and good sanitation.        

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These reports have said the obvious: our governments have not done enough in providing this basic human need. The stark reality is evident in both our cities and rural areas. Clearly, there is a linkage between access to clean water and good health. Therefore, water and good sanitation should receive premium attention at all levels of government, through   significant votes in their budgets.   Currently, millions of people in the country lack good water supply and sanitation. The high cost of clean water is endangering the ability of many countries to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  This underscores the resolution of the UN General Assembly in 2003 to ensure greater focus on water-related issues, while striving to secure the participation of women in these development efforts. These are also geared towards national ideals of fostering cooperation in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We note that the first Water Decade from 1981-1990  brought water to over a billion people and sanitation to about 710 million, according to UN statistics.                                

However, much still needs to be done by the federal, state and local governments.  What Nigeria needs is a coordinated response, utilising existing resources and international donor agencies’ funds to make clean water accessible to all citizens.  This provision should be seen as a right of the people and a primary responsibility of all tiers of government. We want to see water supply projects all over the country.

Not long ago, the Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, said that “93 percent” of Nigerians consume water from unwholesome sources. That is disturbing. The shortage of clean water has resulted in Nigerians’ reliance on sachet “pure water” and other private water sources that we cannot vouch for their wholesomeness. This, of course, has serious implications for the health of the people, as it makes them vulnerable to water-borne diseases.                                                

All said, good water is a basic need. Beyond question, it is indispensable to human health and an integral factor in the alleviation of poverty and hunger. Sadly, over two billion people worldwide are estimated to lack access to it. Let our governments reappraise the attention they give to clean water and make wholesome water available in every nook and cranny of the country.