Unacceptable water-related threats to 78m children

Typical of other natural resources, modern Nigeria has so much water yet with none to drink! In-between is the perennial deficit of will, initiative, and sustainable programmes to enforce rights to potable water and hygiene nationwide.

It is therefore not surprising, though disgraceful, that almost half of the population is now threatened by water-related diseases. The political class across the board should bury their heads in shame.

In the colonial period and early days of independence, major cities in Nigeria had functional water systems. Adults and children alike did turn on the public tap and drank straight from the fountain. The water was typical of what runs in homes of advanced societies today. Sadly, what remains of those hygienic yesteryears are broken pipes that had been channeled through drainages, and fanciful water corporation offices without a drop of supplies in years! It is, therefore, a no-brainer that more Nigerians, especially children, are facing severe water-related crises.

Recently, Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), at the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria, Dr Jane Bevan, said one-third of children in Nigeria do not have access to water, while two-third do not have basic sanitation services. Bevan, at the UN 2023 Water Conference held in New York, said hand hygiene was also limited, with three-quarters of children unable to wash their hands due to lack of water and soap at home; while Nigeria is among the 10 nations bearing heaviest burden of child deaths from diseases caused by inadequate WASH such as diarrhoea.

Again, she warned that 78 million children in Nigeria are at high risk from a convergence of three water-related threats, arising from inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene, and climate hazards. She said: “Nigeria also ranks second out of 163 countries globally, with the highest risk of exposure to climate and environmental threats. Groundwater levels are also dropping, requiring some communities to dig wells twice as deep as just a decade ago. At the same time, rainfall has become more erratic and intense, leading to floods that contaminate scarce water supplies.” These are leading to the growing exposure to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene.

The statistics, which are as shameful as they are disturbing, are far-reaching in implications. They border on socio-economic consequences, especially for women and children. Apart from mortality and morbidity, poor access to WASH services also negatively impact on other aspects of the lives of children as they lead to increased absenteeism from schools; high drop-out rate in schools, especially among girls and the non-attainment of high level of developmental potential. They also retard the physical, cognitive and psycho-social development of young children, which are important correlates of educational performance.

Again, poor water and sanitation services disproportionately affect women and girls, who often bear the burden of the absence of reliable WASH services. Women and girls confront the indignity and danger of open defecation; and urinating close to the homes, bushes, near water sources such as rivers, ponds that further degrade the environment. Similarly, doing housework and treating WASH-related illnesses consumes a significant share of poor family resources, not discounting the financial and opportunity cost of obtaining and treating water.

Obviously, the road to improving WASH in Nigeria will be bumpy, if our leaders do not go beyond rhetoric, attending international meetings and signing international documents, or even just throwing money at the issue. Yet, it is imperative that Nigeria addresses this gloomy situation and change this ugly narrative on WASH. Having a positive WASH outlook is the collective responsibility of government at all levels, individuals, property/homeowners, families, work groups, unions and associations, civil society organisations, private sector and the media.

First, the government can address the water crisis in Nigeria by scaling up investment in the sector, climate financing, strengthening climate resilience, improving accountability, coordination and capacities to provide water and sanitation services, besides implementing the UN-Water Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six on Global Acceleration Framework.

Second, changing the narrative of poor WASH, promoting equity in resource use and management for sustained benefits and long-term impact is achievable through synergy in the management of WASH resources across all levels of government; and this may be the way to go against the backdrop that under the Nigerian Constitution (1999) as amended, water supply and sanitation (WSS) is a responsibility shared by the three tiers of government.

Therefore, the outgoing administration and the incoming administration could make a distinction, and change the narrative on WASH in Nigeria, if the government at all levels could key into the National Water Resources Master Plan. It means that the Nigerian State should follow a decentralised structure in the planning and implementation of water projects.

At the federal level, the relevant MDAs should collaborate and rise to the occasion in a well-coordinated manner. While the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR), the lead ministry in the sector should participate in capital investment; and ensure sector policy development, planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation; the National Water Resources Institute (NWRI), a parastatal under the FMWR, should train relevant personnel, research and manage information on WASH; and the Ministry of Environment with sector-related mandates should live up to its billings.

Also, the Ministry of Health should formulate and regulate standards of drinking water quality, as well as policy development, control and prevention programmes for water- and sanitation-related diseases through its Public Health Department.  Other ministries, agencies and parastatals with some involvement in the sector including Education, Women’s Affairs, Youth Development, Special Duties, Information, and National Planning Commission should work with line MDAs.

Likewise, relevant state and LGA apparatus should domesticate the interventions of the Federal Government for a trickle-down effect. At the state level, the relevant MDAs; WASH departments/units at the local government level; and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committees (WASHCOM) in the communities are important in having a positive WASH outlook.

It is imperative that communities establish and have functional water management committees that will be responsible for rural WASH, which will ensure that money invested, is spent efficiently. Similarly, WASHCOMs should develop acceptable simple and practical systems, especially on low cost technological options; and also ignite community-led responsive processes through self-realisation.

The WASHCOMs would ensure financial contribution from residents for maintenance and timely repair or replacement of facilities such as hand pumps in rural areas.  Also, since WASHCOMs represent communities in the planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of WASH projects; they would ensure the necessary components of community consultation and involvement, which are needed to foster continuity of rural WASH services because sustainability is a critical variable in the calculus of improved WASH.

Furthermore, having gender-sensitive WASHCOMs with established effective management systems will help in gender-sensitive programming and financing for sustainability. In addition, it will make women equal partners with men in the planning and management, and afford them the opportunity to directly influence water projects in which they have a major stake.

The involvement of women is essential to the sustainability of water projects, given the fact that they are traditionally responsible for household water supply, and important in addressing the sanitation concerns of women and girls and promote the value of sanitation from a gender perspective, because they confront the indignity and danger of open defecation.

In addition, schools should discourage open defecation and stimulate toilet usage by establishing and informing demand for sanitation options; and by making hygiene promotion more engaging and fun through promoting learning by participation and practice. Since the private sector is generally involved as semi and non-formal small-scale WASH service providers in urban areas, semi-urban (small towns) and communities; state governments should work with private firms to improve WASH outlook.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) should work and advocate sector reform processes such as decentralisation and devolution, promotion of accountability and good practices while playing active roles in community mobilisation and sensitisation.

As for the media, it should address the socio-cultural prejudices that have fuelled low-risk perception of poor WASH through its messages, and also sensitise Nigerians on the linkages between poor WASH situation and poor health; highlighting its implications for the reduction in diarrhoea diseases and deaths; hence reduced spending on hospital bills, increase in school attendance and increased productivity.

So, the onus rests on the media to constantly package messages to stimulate desired behaviours and social change; bringing to the fore that improving WASH as a nation is the collective responsibility of all. It is time for action; enough of the rhetoric!