…decries monumental corruption in water sector

….assures continuous intervention on water needs in communities

By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja

AS Nigeria last week joined rest of the world to commemorate 2023 World Water Day, a nonprofit making organisation, One Love Foundation, OLF, Monday, called on government at all levels to synergize with informal water suppliers across the country to meet Nigerians’ demand and bridge the existing gap.

Speaking with Vanguard, the President and Founder, OLF, Chief Patrick Eholor, said the 2023 World Water Day with theme ‘Accelerating Change to Solve the Water and Sanitation Crisis’ exposes the monumental corruption existing in the water sector at all levels as Nigerians find it difficult to access potable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructures over the years despite the billions of Dollars sunk into the sector.

According to Eholor, Nigerians are not enjoying water, sanitation and hygiene facilities as a result of climate change, population growth, and corruption.

He said: “The solution is to revive each Local Government Councilor and task them on their duties, it is when they are active enough that the protracted water, sanitation and hygiene challenges that is bedeviling Nigeria since 1960 can stop because the Local Government Councilor is closer to the people at grassroots level than the state level, and as such it is only them that knows the plight of the people and community that is facing water issues.

“The enabling environment I expect the government should provide for the private sector to delve into full scale water, sanitation and hygiene investments is that non-state providers of water, that is, the informal private water participants, are tolerated, but they do not get legal recognition by the government, and consequently they do not receive material or technical assistance from the State.

“They are seen as illegal providers of water or at best, informal providers of water. Consequently, these informal private water participants have no working relationship with the state; as a result, the government cannot facilitate the efforts of the informal private water participants to enhance the quality of water they provide.

“It is on this note that I call on the government to give the non-state actors legal recognition and also sign a Memoranda of Understanding, MoU, with them so that the government can provide them with materials and technical assistance that is needed.”

He also expressed concern over water pricing, which there is no regulation whatsoever as consumers have been turned into ‘slaves’ by water producers and suppliers.

“Water pricing is one of the more controversial aspects of privatization because of how great an impact it has on the users of water, most importantly the residents. Residents in the villages already pay exorbitant prices for water.

“Majority of residents who get access to water from the informal private sector pay up to four times as much as the residents who are connected to pipe borne water, therefore, the government must look into this to either share the payment with citizens or affix a stipulated price for it”, he said.