The federal government says it expects to see a better stakeholders’ coordination towards creating more access to portable water, improving sanitation as well developing irrigation in the next few years with the new national water and irrigation policies launched on Monday by the ministry of water resources.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, speaking on Monday in Abuja at the unveiling of the national water policies and launch of the partnership for expanded water supply, sanitation and hygiene (PEWASH), said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has already given a nod to the framework but also raised the concerns over the poor access to water and sanitary conditions across the country.
At the moment, 69 percent of Nigerians can access to portable water while just 29 percent live under good sanitary conditions.
The Vice President explained that the implementation of PEWASH will help the country attain her targets of increased water supply and sanitation, and improved public health as well as expected positive impact on economic growth and human development.
“Statistics shows that that over 66 million Nigerians still lack access to safe water, while 110 million do not have adequate sanitation. Consequently, about 150,000 children under the age of five die annually from diarrhea-related diseases that are mostly traceable to unsafe drinking water.
“The situation is even more depressing in the rural areas where polluted ponds and streams remain the only sources of water for drinking and other household chores. The trend must stop!,Osinbajo declared.
He regretted that Nigeria did not achieve the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation for lack of effective coordination amongst the stakeholders and the inability to harness the required funds.
“In Nigeria, successive governments, in collaboration with development partners, have contributed to efforts geared towards improving access to water supply and sanitation services, and successes have been recorded in a number of areas, with access to water supply presently at 69 percent, and sanitation at 29 percent, Osinbajo stated.
He however, describe the situation as been a far cry from what is needed in view of the increasing population and a drive to self-sufficiency in food production, the demand for increased rural water supply and sanitation, and improved public health as well as expected positive impact on economic growth and human development.
Suleiman Adamu, minister of water resources also speaking at the launch assured that going forward, there will be a purposeful synergy of all activities aimed at achieving access to portable water for all Nigerians, and increase in the development of irrigation infrastructure, in order to achieve self-sufficiency in food production, promote employment generation and reposition agriculture as a financially rewarding economic activity.
The minister explained that the programmes launched would help galvanize all resources towards achieving portable water supply for all, sufficiency in food production and sanitation.
“The strength of the programme is that, it is designed to build on all going efforts, as well as complement the existing water supply and sanitation strategies by instituting a funding, scoping, coordination and monitoring framework for project delivery.
“The primary goal of the programme is to contribute to improvement in public health and eradication of poverty in Nigeria through the achievement of SDG target 6.1 and 6.2, especially in the rural areas where access to quality water supply and sanitation are grossly inadequate”, the minister submitted.
