Development experts have called for stronger gender inclusion in water governance, stressing that equitable access to water remains central to social justice and sustainable development, particularly in Nigeria’s rapidly expanding urban centres, where infrastructure gaps continue to widen inequality.

Nigeria would require over 700,000 boreholes to meet its growing water supply needs, but more than 40 per cent of boreholes installed by governments fail within two years, raising serious concerns about their viability as a sustainable alternative source of water. The high failure rate, experts say, reflects deeper systemic issues, including poor maintenance culture, weak regulation, inadequate hydrogeological assessments, and lack of community ownership.

The experts, who spoke to The Guardian on this year’s World Water Day theme, “Water and Gender,” with the slogan “Where Water Flows, Equality Grows,” urged governments and development institutions to place women and girls at the centre of water solutions and decision-making processes.

They noted that the theme underscores the strong link between gender equality and water access, particularly in developing countries like Nigeria, where women and girls bear the disproportionate burden of sourcing water for domestic use.

According to statistics from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Nigeria has about 2.31 million water points, with 75 per cent being self-supplied. Of these, 43 per cent are boreholes, while less than one-fifth are accessible to persons living with disabilities. Public water utilities are currently producing water in only 28 out of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. In just 16 states, the utilities are considered functional, consistently producing water, supplying active consumers, and collecting user fees.

In rural areas, the average per capita access to drinking water is estimated at nine litres per person per day, far below global standards. Only 19 per cent of the population uses water systems that meet the adequacy threshold of at least 16 litres per person daily within a 500-metre radius. More worrying is that about 70 per cent of drinking water at both source and household levels is contaminated with E. coli, exposing millions of Nigerians to waterborne diseases, with rural dwellers more affected than their urban counterparts.

In many urban centres, particularly informal settlements in Lagos and other major cities, access to clean water is shaped by income levels and location. While affluent neighbourhoods enjoy a relatively stable supply through private boreholes and water treatment systems, low-income communities rely heavily on water vendors, tanker services and unsafe sources.

This disparity has created a thriving informal water economy where residents pay significantly more per litre than those connected to public supply systems. Women, who are primarily responsible for household water management, bear the brunt of these costs, often spending a large share of household income on water.

A Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) expert, Mr Timeyin Uwejamomere, called on state governors to return to large-scale investments in water treatment plants to address supply challenges across both urban and rural communities.

“Today, only a few states have water supply from treatment plants, providing less than 10 per cent of drinking water to citizens. While privatisation of water supply is being considered, it must be approached cautiously because water is a basic need and a human right that requires a balance between social and commercial considerations,” he said.

Uwejamomere, who is the Managing Partner/CEO of Mangrove & Partners Ltd, warned that Nigeria risks missing the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation at the current pace of progress.

“Nigeria still leads in open defecation, and the consequences are severe for women and girls, particularly in underserved communities and urban slums where access to sanitation is limited,” he added.

He noted that the gaps in government provision have created room for non-state actors such as UNICEF, WaterAid and Self-Help Africa, which support community-managed systems and promote women’s participation in water governance. However, he stressed that such interventions remain insufficient compared to the scale of need and cannot replace the role of government in providing large-scale infrastructure.

Also speaking, Director of the Centre for Water and Sanitation Studies (CeWASS), Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Prof. Peter Cookey, said women must be recognised as central actors in water governance rather than mere beneficiaries.

“An increasing number of WASH programmes now ensure women occupy leadership roles in community water management committees. When women are involved in decisions such as siting water points, tariff setting and maintenance, projects become more responsive to community needs and more sustainable in the long term,” he said.

Cookey called for increased investments in infrastructure, innovation and capacity building to train a new generation of WASH professionals capable of designing, implementing and managing sustainable water systems in both urban and rural settings.

He also urged governments to adopt gender-responsive policies that mandate women’s representation in water boards, regulatory bodies and community management structures. According to him, monitoring frameworks should include gender-sensitive indicators such as reductions in time spent fetching water, women’s participation in decision-making, and economic opportunities created through improved water access.

The Founder of the Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP), Dr Joachim Ezeji, highlighted the broader implications of inadequate water access on sanitation, public health and overall human development. “Without reliable water, sanitation facilities cannot be properly maintained, leading to unhygienic conditions and increased exposure to disease. In schools, poor sanitation disproportionately affects girls, especially in managing menstrual hygiene, which contributes to absenteeism and poor educational outcomes,” he said.

Ezeji added that inadequate water and sanitation services are not just service delivery gaps but structural constraints on development. “They erode public health, reduce labour productivity, limit educational attainment and constrain economic participation. For women in particular, the burden includes caring for sick children, managing household hygiene under constrained conditions and navigating unsafe sanitation environments. These collectively diminish their opportunities for meaningful economic and social engagement,” he said.

He called for a comprehensive review of gender policies and institutional frameworks to ensure they address sector-specific challenges in water service delivery. “Gender mainstreaming must move beyond policy statements to a system-wide approach that integrates gender considerations into planning, budgeting, implementation and performance monitoring,” Ezeji added.