By Obiabin Onukwugha
A consortium of civil society organizations have called on the federal government o declare a state of emergency on Nigeria’s water sector.
The call was contained in a report released on Thursday, March 20, ahead of the commemoration of World Water Day 2025, which investigated the water situation in Nigeria.
The report titled Dry Taps: A Damning Verdict on the State of Water Utilities in Nigeria, was launched by the CSOs.
The CSOs were: Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDEC), the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Service Employees (AUPCTRE), Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF), Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) and New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI).
The group blamed the perilous state of water infrastructure across the country on corruption and deliberate starving of the utilities and the required funding by the state governments.
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The report, which was made available to NatureNews in Port Harcourt, revealed the near comatose state of public waterworks in Kogi, Oyo, Lagos, Enugu, Edo and Kano States and sheds 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.
In the report, AUPCTRE General Secretary, Sikiru Waheed, explained that though the scope of the research was limited to six out of Nigeria’s 36 states, it deliberately captures 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.
He explained that due to manpower and resource challenges the research focused on the water situation in the cities since it is a forgone conclusion that the rural communities where 70 percent of Nigeria’s population are found rely only on streams, rivers and in a few cases private water vendors and boreholes to meet their domestic water needs.
In his presentation, the Executive Director of EDEN, Barrister Chima Williams, described the water situation in Edo State as depressing and demands immediate intervention.
He said: “The outcomes of the fact finding visits to the water utilities in Edo State just like in other states of the federation are depressing and demands immediate intervention. Multi-billion naira water projects are rotting away forcing citizens to rely on unwholesome sources of water. It is disheartening.”
The report therefore called on governments at federal and state levels to integrate broad public participation in formulating plans to achieve universal water access for Nigerians.
