World Water Day: Group tasks FG on safe water systems
AREWA AGENDA – As part of activities to mark World Water Day, an NGO, the Rural Community Development Outreach (RCDO), has changed the Federal Government to pay attention to the water crisis in Nigeria which presently threatens the lives of over 78 million children and millions more in the rural communities of the country.
The Nigeria-based group with membership across the rural communities in the six geo-political regions of the country warned that the safe water crisis in Nigeria is an existential threat that may overpower the Nigerian healthcare sector if it is not immediately addressed.
The group made the change in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe and National Secretary, Okwudili Onyeke.
It said, “Nigeria is one of the 10 countries that carry the heaviest burden of child deaths from diseases caused by inadequate attention to water supply, sanitation and hygiene, such as diarrhoea diseases. In Nigeria, one-third of children do not have access to at least basic water at home, and two-thirds do not have basic sanitation services.
“Not minding that Nigerian households, according to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, spent over N4 trillion on water sanitary, hygiene and services annually in 2019 and 2020. The majority of the rural communities in Nigeria find themselves without access to safe usable water. Many are left with no options but to use polluted and highly contaminated water streams for drinking water and other uses.
“As the world celebrates water day, it will be morally just for the Federal Government of Nigeria and the people in leadership positions to reexamine the trouble posed by the continued unavailability of safe water in rural communities around the country. It is the civil right of every Nigerian, both young and old, to have access to safe water that will not cause a pandemic.”
It observed that the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) record estimates that over 78 million of children in Nigeria are in danger of contracting waterborne and related diseases.
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Though most state governments adopt the concept of sinking water boreholes as a solution to the unavailability of safe water, such intervention hardly addresses the looming danger.
It further noted that A study sponsored by UNICEF in 2021 disclosed that only 6 per cent of the healthcare facilities in Nigeria have safe water facilities while only 11 per cent of schools have safe water facilities. This is as the then Federal Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu indicated that only 28 out of the 36 States of the federation have urban water utilities or State Water Agencies.
“Only 16 out of the 28 States have fully functioning urban utilities while 12 were partially functional. The Minister added that access to public water supply declined from 32% in 1990 to less than 7% in 2015.
“In Lagos, less than 6 million out of the over 20 million population have access to public water, as the majority depend on private boreholes, wells and packaged table water. In Enugu, only 10,000 of the residents have access to potable water. In Abia, there is no access to potable water. In Kano, less than 40% of the population has access to potable water. In Kebbi, less than 20% of the population has access to public water. UNICEF study puts the daily consumption of water by each Nigerian at nine litres per day.”
The group noted that most state governments have adopted the concept of sinking water boreholes as a solution to the unavailability of safe water.
“Boreholes do not address the safety problem, Government should look beyond the sinking of water boreholes as solutions to safe drinking water. This government must conceive a plan. A real implementable plan for delivering safe drinking water to every home in Nigeria, particularly the rural communities. It should be considered as important as building roads and hospitals.
“For the health and well-being of the nation, it is pertinent for better attention to be paid to safe water systems. Nigeria cannot develop without a well thought out plan on safe water systems,” it said.
Credit: The Sun
