179m Nigerians in dire straits, lack access to potable water nationwide

• 117,000 die yearly from sanitation-related diseases
• Cost of digging boreholes ranges between N700,000 and N4m
• Lack of comprehensive water programme, management cost Nigeria N7b yearly

The perennial lack of legislation and a national action plan on efficient water resources has deprived more Nigerians of access to potable water, and by extension, access to quality life and economic well-being.

Findings show that the general dearth of public water infrastructure has deprived about 179 million Nigerians, a significant shift from 113 million estimated by the United Nations about a year ago.

Indeed, there is barely any public water service corporation optimally functional across 36 states. This has left the entire population at the mercy of self-help, sinking boreholes that are not cheap to come by, and other supply sources that are often contaminated, leading to an estimated 117,000 water-related morbidity and mortality yearly.

Economically, Nigeria is losing an estimated N7 billion yearly due to the absence of a comprehensive water management framework.

It will be recalled that the Federal Government introduced an executive bill in 2017 aimed at establishing a regulatory framework for the equitable and sustainable management of Nigeria’s water resources.

The bill, among others, sought to amalgamate existing water laws and align them with global best practices in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) to ensure efficient management for economic development and citizen well-being.

It emphasised the importance of protecting citizens’ rights to safe water and basic sanitation, promoting equitable access, reducing poverty, and fostering efficiency in water resources management.

It also outlines provisions for various water usage sectors, including domestic, agricultural, hydroelectric energy generation, navigation, fisheries, and recreation, aiming to ensure sustainable development and benefit for all Nigerians.

Despite its noble intentions, the bill faced opposition and controversy, with critics accusing the government of a hidden agenda, such as favouring herders or promoting land grabbing.

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum believed the Federal Government was secretly plotting to foist an unpopular policy on citizens. Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and some other civil society groups kicked against it.

However, the Federal Government consistently denied the allegations, insisting that the bill was for the good of the nation and had no hidden agenda whatsoever. It added that it was a deliberate mischief by some of those who have been portraying it as a new source of conflict.

Similarly, the Federal Government in its craving for the best global practices in the water sector, established the Nigeria Integrated Water Resource Management Commission (NIWRMC) in May 2007 for the proper formulation of acceptable water policy and its management.

However, NIWRMC has remained comatose, requiring comprehensive legislation to boost its operating powers as it lacks powers to regulate water resources effectively.

Former minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said that those misses in strategic policies are the reasons about 179 million Nigerians are still exposed to problems of lack of water management and sanitation nationwide.

Recall that the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, in March 2023, estimated that about two-thirds of the population of citizens in Nigeria (113 million) lacked access to potable water.

This issue is due to poor water management practices and inadequate infrastructure, which renders most water resources unfit for human consumption. The average Nigerian consumes only nine litres of water per day, which falls below the national acceptable minimum standards of 12 to 16 litres per day. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), Nigeria’s per capita water availability has decreased, exacerbating the scarcity challenge.

The self-help borehole alternatives are also burdensome on communities, potentially leading to a looming water crisis, as digging boreholes have become the primary source of water for Nigerians.

According to a geologist, Ngbede Agumaji, the average cost of drilling varies across regions: approximately N2.5 million in the Northwest, N1.8 million in the North East, N700,000 to N1 million in the South-South, and N3 to N4 million in the South East, making them unaffordable for many households.

Many households across the country rely on sachet water that is majorly produced and packaged from boreholes and shun the boreholes in their homes because it is considered untreated and unsafe.

However, despite the announcement of 72 solar-powered borehole projects by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources during the 2022/2023 PEWASH, to ameliorate the difficulties in accessing clean water, such intervention remains insufficient.

The geologist suggested that the Federal Government should reinvigorate the activities of the water boards so that borehole installations would be restricted to rural communities.

Determined to overcome this challenge, the minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utesv, at the 30th regular meeting of the national council on water resources and sanitation in Abuja regretted the non-passage of the 2017 water resources bill.

He said the ministry will re-engage the 10th National Assembly for passage of the bill.

“To achieve this, it would require informed dialogue, transparency, and consideration of diverse perspectives to ensure its effectiveness and address concerns raised by stakeholders,” he assured.

The bill, if passed, is expected to give legislation to NIWRMC, which would direct the management of Nigeria’s water space.

NIWRMC was established with the core mandate of regulating Nigeria’s water resources planning and development as well as defining water footprint standards in the waterways.

The commission is expected primarily to, among other roles, be responsible for regulating activities about and related to water resources and providing the technical and economic requirements for all aspects of water resources development.

In addition, it would be mandated to issue water licences and monitor the conduct of the licensees to ensure compliance with the conditions attached to it.

The Commission, among others, is expected to ensure functional integration in the management of fresh water and wastewater within a single unit.

Nigeria is still a far cry from this modern water management technique, which is already old-fashioned in developed countries.

According to water experts, Ngbede Akor, the freshwater cycle serves multiple functions.

It is simultaneously a critical generator of food, energy, and other ecological services, a key regulator of the earth’s climate, and a recipient and transmitter of change through floods and droughts caused by global warming.

“As such, the effective functioning of the water cycle is fundamental for resilience, which means the capacity of social-ecological systems to deal with shocks, adapt to changing conditions and transform in crises.

“To sustain groundwater use in tube well-irrigated areas, enhancing recharge from precipitation and surface water imports is necessary,” he said.

None of these improvements, according to Akor, can be made without the proper institutional and organisational development, including the passage of the water management resource bill before the national assembly.

He explained that the essence of the pending water resource bill before the national assembly was to give proper direction to water resource management in the country.

The bill, when passed, would also strengthen private-sector partnerships in the management of the water industry.

According to a professor of Engineering, Saliu Mustafa, Integrated water planning and management will mean considering all the processes involved in water development from occurrence, storage, distribution and use for various purposes like drinking, agriculture, industries, recreation, etc, including recycling wastewaters.

His words: “Integrated water planning would ensure limited water resources are developed to meet the needs of various users, evolve rules and regulations to prevent wastages and pollution, ensure water access to all, enhance equity and more efficient utilisation of water resources.

“It would promote the conservation of the environment and ecosystem, develop appropriate measures against natural hazards such as floods and droughts and ensure sustainability.

“Without integrated water planning and management, there will be haphazard development of Nigeria’s water resources, wastages and pollution, resulting in less water available leading to water scarcity and many will have limited access to quality water.”