64 years after, clean water still a mirage for Nigerians
As Nigerians join other countries to mark the World Water Day, the story from across the country is that of water shortage and the gruelling efforts put in daily to access it. Many citizens, especially those in rural areas rely on water from rivers, streams, wells or ponds for their domestic use. Sometimes, they have […]
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As Nigerians join other countries to mark the World Water Day, the story from across the country is that of water shortage and the gruelling efforts put in daily to access it.
Many citizens, especially those in rural areas rely on water from rivers, streams, wells or ponds for their domestic use. Sometimes, they have to share the streams and rivers with animals, Weekend Trust gathered.
This is despite the huge budgetary allocations by the federal and state governments over the years.
Experts attribute clean water shortage in states to alleged misapplication of monies released for the purpose they are meant for.
Also, since Nigeria gained independence over 64 years ago, there has been significant foreign support for water supply in Nigeria.
For instance, the World Bank has been a long-standing partner in the Nigerian water and sanitation sector, providing loans and credits for infrastructure development and sector reforms. They have supported initiatives like the National Urban Water Sector Reform Program (NUWSRP) and the Nigeria Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Programme (SURWASH).
Also, the African Development Bank (AfDB) provides loans and funding for water infrastructure projects in Nigeria.
Similarly, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had supported Nigeria’s efforts to improve WASH services, particularly in areas like Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara states, through partnerships with organizations like UNICEF.
Likewise, UNICEF implements projects in cooperation with the Nigerian government to improve WASH services, focusing on providing access to clean water and sanitation in rural areas and schools.
Equally, WaterAid provides technical support, capacity development, and policy and strategy development to the Nigerian government, with a memorandum of understanding signed with the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) had also funded water boards and corporations across some states, while the European Union (EU) and the Japanese JICA provide grants to the government for water and sanitation projects.
But with all these interventions, coupled with the fact that many states have water from rivers in abundance, people are still struggling to have potable water to drink, hence the preponderance of diseases with attendant negative impact on life.
Those who spoke to Weekend Trust have called for accountability and renewed vigour from various stakeholders to address the problem.
60% lack access to water
A recent report suggests that approximately 60 per cent of Nigerians, or roughly 110 million people, lack access to safe drinking water.
According to the report titled, ‘Water Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping’, nearly a third of Nigerians don’t have access to basic supply of water. This has been the narrative for many years.
The Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation says it is the sole responsibility of the state government to provide clean and safe water in their respective states.
World Water Day
The World Water Day is United Nations event which holds on March 22nd every year, to highlight the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
The theme of this year’s celebration, ‘Glacier Preservation,’ focuses on the critical role of glaciers in sustaining life and the water cycle, and highlighting the challenges of melting glaciers and the need for action.
Niger: Our children drown in search of water
The situation is pathetic in Niger State as residents of Korokpa Community in Paikoro Local Government Area (LGA) recently mourned 14-year-old Elizabeth Peter, who drowned in the Chanchaga River in search of water for her family.
Korokpa, located just a few metres away from the Niger State Water and Sewage Corporation, has been without access to potable water for over a year. This has forced residents to rely on unsafe rivers and ponds.
Elizabeth, an SS1 student, who would have been 15 on the 22nd of April, was swept away by the river’s current while fetching water, Weekend Trust gathered.
Community members told Weekend Trust that Elizabeth is one of many victims who have lost their lives in search of water for their families
Late Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs Joel Peter, is yet to recover from the shock of her daughter’s death and could not speak to our correspondent when he visited.
Elizabeth’s aunt, Abigail Idoko, said, “They, Elizabeth and her siblings went to the river because there was no other place to get water. The borehole is faulty, and the water vendors couldn’t pump water due to lack of electricity. This is what we face always.”
Another resident of the area, Isah Mohammed said, “Without power, commercial borehole operators can’t pump water because of high cost of fuel. That’s why children go to the river. We have very few wells, and even then, people beg just to get a bucket or two.”
Rabi Danladi said, “We fetch from the Chanchaga River, where animals also graze and drink from. This is the same water we drink, cook, and bath with. Sometimes, human waste floats by as we fetch water, but we have no choice but to fetch the water.”
She said every year people die in the river, calling for government’s attention.
Weekend Trust findings show that water prices in Minna, the state capital fluctuate between N1, 000 and N2, 000 per cart. This is compounded by epileptic power supply, which affects private borehole operators.
It was also gathered that the rocky terrain of Minna further complicates the digging of private wells, while the high cost of boreholes is another problem.
In Gbeganu area, Malama Amina Sadiq shared how her children sometimes go to school without bathing.
“Some days, we can’t even find water vendors,” she said.
The crisis is not limited to Minna. In rural communities such as Lemu, the headquarters of Gbako LGA, residents face similar challenges with women and children having to wake up before dawn to search for water,” said Malam Salihu Ibrahim.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Water and Sewage Corporation, Zainab Yunusa, said the government was working to resolve the situation. She attributed part of the water shortages to ongoing road construction projects that have disrupted pipelines.”
Mrs Yunusa, however, added that communities not yet connected to the water board would need to make financial commitments to get linked to the network.
Long queues at boreholes in Kano
In Kano State, young boys and girls were seen on long queues taking turns to fetch water just as hand pump boreholes are becoming normal sights in the metropolitan areas.
Residents continue to face challenges of persistent water shortage even as the state government said it was taking practical steps to end the continuous water shortage in the state.
Residents of Ranzaga, Ungogo LGA, said they have been without water for years which leaves them at the mercy of water vendors.
Alhaji Bela, a resident, said, “We have been without water for as long as I can remember. We just buy from vendors who also depend on boreholes.”
Despite proximity to a water treatment plant located at Tambaruwa town, Gundutse and Karfi towns are not immune to the water scarcity challenges.
Salisu Karfi, a resident, said, “Wells are our main source of water here in Karfi.”
However, residents of Zawachiki in Kumbotso LGA enjoy constant water supply due to its proximity to the Challawa water treatment plant which is operational.
The Kano State ministry of water resources had last month assured residents that the scarcity would soon be history, saying new pumping machines procured by the ministry had arrived the country and would be installed to improve water supply.
At about the same period last year, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf had ordered immediate construction of boreholes in Danya and Kyallin Bulla villages of Bichi LGA. The two villages had been battling acute water shortage for nearly 40 years. Children in both villages trek almost four kilometres to fetch water from the streams.
The state’s Commissioner for Water Resources, Umar Haruna Doguwa, said proactive measures have been implored to revive the existing water reservoirs in the state to improve supply.
Scarcity amidst abundance in Delta
Despite being surrounded by rivers, creeks, and lakes, many communities in Delta State struggle daily to access potable water. While urban areas enjoy relatively stable water supply, rural and riverine communities face a different reality, relying on boreholes, rainwater, or expensive sachet water to survive, Weekend Trust gathered.
Many residents of the state lack access to clean water and often resort to unreliable sources, including polluted streams.
In Agbor, Ika-South and Ika-North East Local Government Areas, residents say potable water is only for those who can afford to drill boreholes.
Mr Ogaga Ovie, a resident of Okuama, echoed his concerns. “It’s surprising that Delta State is rich in water resources, yet many of us lack access to clean drinking water. We buy water every day just to survive,” he said.
The situation is particularly dire in riverine areas as communities struggle due to saltwater intrusion and oil pollution.
“In these areas, people travel to the cities to buy sachet and bottled water, as well as jerry cans of water because their only natural source is salt water,” said Mrs Toritseju Wayimi, a resident in Warri.
‘We drink muddy water in Benue’
For Doose Nyinongo and her family in Kighir, a community in Makurdi LGA of Benue State, access to water has become a daily nightmare with no end in sight as residents currently endure sleepless nights in search of water.
Like Niger, it is from the famous River Benue that the state got its name.
Our correspondent reports that with no reliable water source nearby, Nyinongo and her younger siblings are forced into an exhausting daily routine of leaving home at 11pm to fetch water and returning just before dawn.
“We go to a neighbouring community, where a private well never runs dry. The queue is always long because everyone in Kighir depends on it. The well owner fetches for her household first before allowing others to collect water, free of charge,” she explained.
Nyinongo added that her younger siblings’ education is being affected, as they sometimes miss school entirely or arrive late, depending on when they return from fetching water.
Weekend Trust gathered that as dry season intensifies, the struggle for water in many parts of Benue continues to worsen with families paying the price not in monetary terms, but sleepless nights, fatigue, and lost time meant for rest and education.
Another resident, Katie Denen, who lives in a suburb of Gboko LGA, where access to water recently became a challenge, said, “We trek long distances in search of water, often digging into stream beds. Many times, we stay up all night just to collect water from available spots. It’s a truly terrible situation”.
The water crisis in Otukpo is worsened by the area’s topography, as residents have raised concerns, stating that they drink muddy water and may be at risk of waterborne diseases.
“Morning and night, we trek long distances to fetch water that is not only smelly but also muddy. It is barely suitable for washing, let alone drinking. But that’s what we drink. Most times, members of my household fall sick with typhoid, diarrhoea, and cholera, and I’m told it’s because of the contaminated water.
“But what can we do? We rely on this muddy water sourced from streams for washing, bathing, and cooking. Whenever it’s the dry season like this time around, we have to go even farther into digging the stream beds to fetch water, and we dig into the dry wells to find drinking water,” Adeyi, another resident said.
For Ankeli Amanyi, a resident of Otukpo, if government can walk its talk by resuscitating the water works in the town, a lot would have been done to also save many from health and environmental hazards.”
However, the state government insists that progress is being made. The state Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Odoh Ugwu, said the government was committed to addressing water scarcity.
Residents spend N800-N1, 000 on 10 kegs of water in Lagos
Lagos residents have decried the shortage of water in their communities, saying they spend between N800 andN1000 for 10 kegs of 25 litres of water.
This is despite the fact that the state is also surrounded by water.
Residents living in areas like Agege, depend on cart pushers for their daily water supply.
Daniella Tokolo, a resident lamented that the lack of potable water has become a nightmare for most Lagosians, saying she buys 20 gallons for N2, 000 and manages it for two weeks.
“The way it works is that the price varies based on where you reside and the availability of power supply. So, because my apartment is upstairs, the vendor charges N800 for 10 gallons of 25kg, but N1, 000 when there is no light,” she said.
Modupe Philips, a nursing mother with a baby strapped to her back, narrated her struggles getting water, saying that she usually treks a few miles down her street to fetch water for daily consumption.
“It is very hard to get water because from where I live, I trek to fetch water. There’s been no light for three to four days. We don’t know the issues and it is not easy waking up in the morning to fetch water to bathe my baby,” she said.
Women sleep at streams in Abuja suburbs
Women in most communities across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) now sleep at streams to scoop water from the ponds, Weekend Trust gathered.
Residents of Nuku community in Nuku-Sabon Gari ward of Abaji Area Council of the FCT, say they spend the night at streams in order to get water which drips from under a rock as the only source of water for use in their homes.
Mrs Laraba Dangana told our reporter that women usually leave their homes between 7pm and 8pm, after preparing the day’s dinner to go to the stream which is almost dried up.
‘’We often come here with our basins around that time; spread our wrappers to sleep on till the following morning just to get water from under the rock,” she lamented.
According to her, residents of the community face water scarcity, especially during the dry season yearly, adding that the struggle to get water in the community has continued to pose serious health and environmental risks to residents of the village.
Another housewife, Mrs Mairo Gwatana, bemoaned the water problem facing the community, saying the development was a huge source of concern.
Recently, suspected herders killed a man, identified as John Moses Gwatana, over a water pond at Riwaza community in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A resident of Riwaza, Yakubu Gideon, said the incident happened when some herders moved their cows to contaminate a water pond serving the community.
The village head of the community, Alhaji Isah Zozo Kure, noted that lack of drinking water had been the major problem facing his people over the years.
He confirmed that women always left their homes late in the evening in search of water and returned in the morning, a situation which has been a source of concern to their husbands.
The village chief appealed to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, to intervene in the issue.
Reacting to the water challenges faced by communities, an official from the works department of the Kwali area council, who preferred anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the press, confided in our reporter that the department had received reports on the challenges being faced by the communities in the area and had captured at least 10 communities in this year’s budget.
He said work would soon start in most of the communities.
Also, an official attached to the Works Department in Bwari Area Council, said work had commenced on boreholes in two communities within the council, adding that at least four other communities were captured by the council authorities this year.
Several calls and text messages sent to both the Acting General Manager of the FCT Water Board, Mr Daniel Salka Audu and the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on communication and social media, Lere Olayinka, were neither answered nor responded to.
Meanwhile, a few weeks ago when our reporter contacted the Acting General Manager of the Water Board on the water situation in Maitama, he promised to send a team there to address the problem.
A source at the board’s headquarters in Area 3, said the situation would only improve when the Greater Abuja Water Project, aimed at connecting water from the board to more districts is completed.
Water vendors to the rescue in AMAC
The acute water shortage that hit Abuja in the past few weeks has worsened, Weekend Trust reports.
Our correspondent, who monitored the water situation in the nation’s capital since the dry season commenced reports that water supply from the FCT Water Board to even the districts within the city centre and other popular satellite towns like Kubwa, Dutsen Alhaji, Lugbe, among others, has been irregular.
Also, weeks ago, acute water scarcity hit the downtown area of Maitama district, a highbrow in the Abuja metropolis.
Many parts of the affluent neighbourhood have been struggling with lack of pipe-borne water as the FCT Water Board supply has been on and off.
The worst-affected areas are residential spots on Yedseram Street, Gana Street, and the entire Maitama Federal Housing Authority in the district.
According to sources, the residences of the Ambassadors of China, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, South Africa, and others were also affected.
Reports also indicate that no fewer than 10 embassies within the affected area have also been grappling with the scarcity of water.
One of the affected residents, Alhaji Yahaya Ibrahim, described the inconsistent public water supply as disastrous.
He attributed the problem to broken water pipes and poor supply from the Usman Dam source. He said, “We have resorted to buying water, which is costly and a health hazard. I reported to the FCT Water Board headquarters at Area 3 last week,” a he said.
He added that most homes in the area relied on self-serving boreholes.
“For those of us who don’t have boreholes, we have to buy water regularly. The FCT minister should do the needful,” he said.
Our correspondent noted that despite being one of the highbrow areas in Abuja, Maitama has grappled with interrupted water supply for a long time as most residents rely on boreholes for domestic water.
The situation is the same in most parts of Asokoro District, where most areas have been experiencing low pressure from the FCT Water Board.
Residents of the district have been battling water problem because most parts of the district are hilly and rocky, making it difficult to dig boreholes.
Officials of the water board attributed the challenge to the topography of the district, saying the problem required heavy investment in the system upgrade.
Weekend Trust also reports that most parts of Gwarinpa experience irregular water supply from the board.
A resident, Suleiman Ajayi, described the situation as worrisome, saying most people in his area now rely on water vendors, popularly known as mairuwa to survive.
Weekly Trust reports that most parts of Dutsen Alhaji have no access to water from the board as residents mostly rely on water vendors and private commercial borehole for their water needs.
Declare state of emergency in water sector
A coalition of water justice organisations and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) have called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the water sector.
The coalition comprises the Renevyln Development Initiative (RDI), Citizens Free Service Forum, Environmental Defenders Network, Ecumenical Water Network Africa, New Life Community Care Initiative, and the Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre.
They made the call during the presentation of their report titled, “Dry Taps: A Damning Verdict on the State of Water Facilities in Nigeria” recently in Abuja, as part of activities marking the 2025 World Water Day.
The document assessed the state of water utilities in six states across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones: Lagos, Oyo, Enugu, Edo, Kano, and Kogi.
Presenting the report, Mr Philip Jakpor, Executive Director of RDI, stated that they found that most major waterworks in the six states were providing inconsistent services and operating below their installed capacity.
He noted that many of the mini and micro-waterworks in these states had either completely shut down, were neglected, or extensively vandalised, requiring a comprehensive overhaul of the sector.
It puts food on our table- water vendors
Meanwhile, water vendors are cashing in on the water scarcity situation in most states to eke out a living. With most citizens depending on streams and water vendors for the daily supply of water, most water vendors say they cover long distances under the scorching sun to get water for their customers.
They said they charge customers based on the distance they have to cover to get water.
Contributions from Dotun Omisakin, (Lagos), Kelvin Meluwa, (Asaba) & Samuel Amahl-Ugbor, (Enugu)