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Water, Water Everywhere But None To Drink

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BEVERLY HILLS, March 29, (THEWILL) – In commemoration of World Water Day, ANTHONY OKECHUKWU writes on the importance of water and the challenges of achieving unhindered access to potable water.

The ‘World Water Day’ was recently celebrated globally on the March 22, 2021 with the theme: “Valuing Water”. The gathering was also held in different states in Nigeria, which attracted different agencies of government, the academia, water producers, students and other stakeholders in the water business industry.

One key issue that were seriously deliberated upon is the issue of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene known as WASH. This according to some of the participants is because WASH determine the quality of life which drive economic and social development.

Although, Nigeria is a party to the United Nations declaration of right to water, which entitles every one living in the country to sufficient, affordable safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses.

However, reports have shown that no meaningful progress has been made over the years to achieve the spirit and purpose of the UN declaration. As it stands, an estimated 110 million Nigerians, which is about 50 per cent of the population still lack basic sanitation, while about 70 million do not have access to basic water sources. In addition, Nigeria occupies the status as the country with the highest level of open defecation in the world,a position it recently took from India.

Quoting MCSS 2017 survey, a Unicef WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) specialist, Mainga Moono Banga had noted that over 48 million people still practice open defecation in Nigeria, with 33 million of this figure found in the rural areas. The menace, however, does not end only in the rural areas.

Lagos State for example with a population of over 22 million, with growth of 3.2 per cent is surrounded by water, just 10 per cent of the population of Lagos have a piped water supply that has been treated. The remaining 90 per cent rely on wells or sink boreholes to reach underground water supplies or rely on street vendors.

Added to the difficulty in accessing water, the provision of adequate sanitation to meet the needs of the city and all its citizens is also a major challenge for the authorities. Despite efforts from successive state governments, approximately three quarters of households in Lagos State are without access to improved sanitation facilities. With the creation of Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO), things seem to be changing for the better. At least, the Commission presently regulates the production, distribution, supply and use of water, quality of service and charges payable to ensure the viability of the sector and regulate allowable returns.

Speaking at this year’s World Water Day, Executive Secretary, (LASWARCO), Mrs Funke Femi Adepoju emphasised on the importance of water to society.

Mrs Adepoju advised that people must be cautious about the water they take and also must imbibe the culture of water conservation for a better environment.

The Executive Secretary who confirmed that there are high percentage of people without access to portable water said her Commission is making frantic efforts to meet up with their mandate in line with the directive of Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo.

In his presentation, Head, WASH Wateraid Nigeria, Mr Adebayo Alao also emphasised on the importance of water to the society, adding that any society is expected to have good sources of water.

According to Alao, WASH is very important in achieving the SDGs especially goal 6 which has meeting the universal access of water and Sanitation by 2030 as its major thrust.

In her remark, Permanent Secretary, Office of Sustainable Development Goals, Lagos State, Mrs Bose George advised on the effective use of water.

Mrs George who emphasised on the importance of water said that lack of water could force people to engage in open defecation and other unhygienic habits.

In her remark, National President of Association of Table Water Producers of Nigeria (ATWAP), Mrs Clementina Chinwe Ativie said that the value of water cannot be qauntifed,stressing that water value is much more than it’s price.

Mrs Ativie stated that, any society with adequate safe potable or wholesome water is a healthy society, just as she opined that government alone cannot adequately supply the required quantity of drinkable water needed for the Nigerian populace.

Disclosing that table water production has grown to become a big industry, she said that regulation of the industry is a huge task mainly, due to the number of producers involved, nature of the business and other factors.

Ativie also blamed the increment in the price of Table Water to high cost of production.

According to the ATWAP President, the increase in the price of Table Water was caused by many factors,adding that “I can tell you that, if we put the price, considering what it takes us to produce water, 99 per cent of Nigerians wouldn’t be able to to afford it. The same water that we are increasing the price is still N10:00K. Table Water is N70:00K but the materials we use cost about N480, 000 to produce a tonne before. As I am talking to you now, we buy it N1, 500,000. So tell me why we cannot increase the price. And if you watch, for over 12 years, the price water has remained stable. Every other thing has increased”.

“We have been bridging the gap and making sure we produce. In fact, we have been subsidising the cost. If we sell it according to our producing costs, I don’t think anybody can afford water in this country. This is because it is a humanitarian product”, Ativie said.

She however, averred that water producers are not making profit at all, let alone much profit,disclosing that the business is additive.

Explaining the importance of water to the society, Ativie said “already our products are everywhere. There is no place you go in Nigeria and you don’t see sachet or bottled water. Which means someone has taken them to that point. They are products that are not scarce anywhere. That is where we are playing a major role, ensuring that the people get quality water”.

On what she expects from the government, Ativie said “What we are asking the government is to put a regulatory framework that will take in the cooperation of the association, so that we will be able to tell the regulators what and what that is being done at the back. We can’t do much because we are neither the government nor the regulator. NAFDAC is supervising but how many people are they supervising. The number of staff NAFDAC has is not up to 10 per cent of water producers in Nigeria. They are however, trying their best actually but the truth is what happens when they are not there. There are only there in the day or night. So whatever they are doing without carrying us along is as good as doing nothing. This is because, when they leave, the activities they are trying to control continue. If they put us as surveillance and as checks of those people, we will be able to keep them under check and whenever they have any issue with them, we make sure that that thing is complied with”.

“And I can tell you that we have over 30,000 water producers in Nigeria which ATWAP has about 24,000 members. Even NAFDAC cannot tell you how many people they have registered because people come in and go out. Sometimes, when they get to a factory, they will discover it has been converted to a residential building. It is we that know who is closing, who is coming up, who has gone to NAFDAC and who has not gone to NAFDAC. And it is only we that can say hey, you can’t be in this industry if you can’t do the right thing. But if we don’t have the cooperation of the regulators, what do we do”.

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