Why water shortage persists in Nigeria -Report
A coalition of water justice groups has blamed water scarcity in Nigeria on poor funding and orchestrated neglect. This is contained in a report of the coalition which urged the Nigerian government to address poor funding of water utilities across the federation. The report titled “Dry Taps: A Damning Verdict on the State of Water […]
A coalition of water justice groups has blamed water scarcity in Nigeria on poor funding and orchestrated neglect.
This is contained in a report of the coalition which urged the Nigerian government to address poor funding of water utilities across the federation.
The report titled “Dry Taps: A Damning Verdict on the State of Water Utilities in Nigeria”, is a summary of the status of the waterworks in six states of Enugu, Lagos, Oyo, Kogi, Edo and Kano, was unveiled weekend in Abuja.
The research was jointly conducted by seven organisations comprising: New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI), Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Service Employees (AUPCTRE), Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF), the Ecumenical Water Network Africa (EWN-A), Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) and Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDEC).
The report provides insight into the seeming intractable water crisis that has enveloped all the states of the federation, with particular focus on the reasons behind the situation.
NELCCI Executive Director, Florence Ifeanyi-Aneke said the report is intended to wake the states up to their responsibility in ensuring citizens access and enjoy clean and affordable water.
“What we have found is very disturbing and must not be allowed to continue if we say we are a serious nation,” she said.
Also, Executive Director of RDI, mr Philip Jakpor said: “Now we can lay the blame for the parlous state of water in Nigeria exactly where it belongs. The governments at state and the federal level have consistently neglected their responsibility of sustainable funding of water to pave way for privatisation of the utilities”.
The report conducted between 10-17 March, 2025 focused on the state of infrastructure in the water utilities, the manpower needs and other issues militating against their optimal delivery to commemorate the 2025 World Water Day in Nigeria.
Though the scope of the research was limited only to six out of Nigeria’s 36 states and FCT, it captured the situation in at least one state per geographical zone, making it a sneak peek into the overall picture of access to water in the entire federation.
The report covers Lagos and Oyo in the South west, Enugu in the South East, Edo State in the Niger Delta, Kano in the North-West, as well as Kogi in North Central Nigeria.
Speaking during the public presentation of the report, the General Secretary, AUPCTRE, Sikiru Waheed said the research was to ascertain if the water facilities in the select state were working optimally and delivering on their mandate.
He said that the research was intended to understand the nature of the problems in the water utilities, to gauge the resilience of the existing facilities and to add to the pool of scattered information on the reason why our taps are not running.
Waheed noted that the findings are meant to inspire the government to commit to addressing the looming threat to public health through sustainable public funding of water utilities and the improvement of the conditions of workers in the water sector.
The report indicated that from all the states visited, the discoveries are similar and that utter neglect, facilities constructed and machines bought with tax-payers money running into billions of Naira deliberately or negligently allowed them to collapse and rot away.
“In some cases like in Lagos and Kano the allure of privatisation by its administrators, would seem to be one of the reasons the facilities are allowed to die to pave way for privatisers to be onboarded,” the report said.
The report recommended that governments at federal and state levels should integrate broad public participation in formulating plans to achieve universal access.
It said: “The Nigerian government should declare a state of emergency in the water sector. The federal and state governments should reject all forms of water privatisation and commodification.”
The report which noted that federal and state governments should fully uphold the human right to water as an obligation of the government, representing the people, also recommended that government at all level should prioritise public funding for water infrastructure upgrades.
It urged the government to improve electricity supply to the water utilities and equally invest in alternative energy sources such as windmills and solar technologies.