Nigeria has huge water resources, estimated at 220 cubic Kilometres a year of available surface water, but without proper management, required and adequate regulation, and increased investment and collaboration between all the tiers of the government, Nigerians will continue to lack access to water.
Estimates show that less than 30 percent of Nigeria’s 200 million population have access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This gap has resulted in the rise in the production and sale of mineral water in the country. UNICEF also argues that poor access to improved water and sanitation “remains a major contributing factor to high morbidity and mortality rates among children under the age of five.
In agriculture also, the poor management of our water resources mean that the country is not able to provide adequate water resources for its agriculture and farmers’ efforts, affecting yields and food production.
Then comes the Water Bill of 2020. The bill, now withdrawn, is an amalgamation of Water Resources Laws that have been in existence. These are: Water Resources Act, Cap W2 LFN 2004; the River Basin Development Authority Act, Cap R9 LFN 2004; the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (Establishment) Act, Cap N1100A, LFN 2004; National Water Resources Institute Act, Cap N83 LFN 2004. The idea was to introduce modifications in line with current global trends as well as best practices in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
Before it was withdrawn for legislative technical reasons, the Bill attracted considerable criticism, including the plan of the Federal Government to control the vast water resources of the country.
Our view is that the trajectory of the Water Bill is another demonstration of the mistrust between the different sections of the country, and it is important for the government, desirable to make progress on investment, regulation, and proper management of the country’s Water Resources, to now provide the leadership it requires to get it done. As it is, the largely and extensive positive purpose for which the Bill is designed has been consumed in the inability to successfully bring together all stakeholders for this common goal.
We acknowledge the work of the federal ministry of water resources to provide an omnibus water bill for the management of water resources in Nigeria, and there is now a great window to ensure all stakeholders are fully behind a water bill that meet the needs of all Nigerians.
Three things must happen, and we encourage the federal government to lead again in these respects.
First, to bring together all stakeholders in the federal and state governments, including their national representatives, to understand the core principles and goals of this bill. This will demonstrate the inadequacies of the current regulatory environment, which the bill seeks to improve. Second, invite experts in different fields of water resources to explain to these stakeholders the implications of the bill when it becomes law.
Third, the government should endeavour not to “throw away the baby with the bad water”. The baby is the much-needed water bill. The bath water is the controversy it has generated. We trust that the government can overcome this by following through again the process of consultation and enlightenment, and if need be, required changes, to ensure that the whole country gets the water bill and law it deserves for its progress.
Nigerians need safe water to drink, for improved sanitation, and for the agriculture industry. We must overcome the recent setback to deliver that.
