Nigeria has be identified to be faced with a continuous decline in access to healthy water supply.
He added that 180,799,475 persons representing 93% of the total Nigeria population lack access to healthy water.
In spite of the accomplishments and the enormous opportunities in the water sector in terms of abundant fresh water, favourable weather, substantial human capita and numerous institutional arrangements, a lot of work still need to be done as the current national access to water supply implies that millions of Nigerians are still without access to improved drinking water resources.
He said “In spite of the enormous opportunities we have in the water sector in terms of abundant fresh water, favourable weather numerous institutional arrangements, we still have a lot of work to do.
With the current national access to water supply as at today, it implies that millions of Nigerians are still without access to improved drinking water sources”.
He informed the completion of the National water resources master plan which attaches high priority to the implementation of a series of large, medium and small dam projects in Nigeria.
“Let me inform that the National water resources master plan which gives high priority to the implementation of a series of large, medium and small dam projects in Nigeria has been finalized and we currently have over 200 dams in Nigeria.
According to him, fresh water resources are continuously under pressure of global population growth, climate change and spread of lifestyles that squander resources adding that 80% of wastewater returns to the ecosystem without being treated.
He stressed the Continous commitment to support the Nigerian governments in the transition to green and circular economies and their efforts to implement better-integrated water policies.
Tags: water

In Nigeria alone, UNICEF reports that over 70 million people do not have access to safe drinking water.
The water crisis is a business risk extraordinaire, water scarcity and pollution impacts the capacity of individuals and whole communities to create and subscribe to value.
In response to this crisis business must join hands with other sectors to ensure water is managed sustainably and as a shared and public resource.
This picturesque city of 4 million people is to become the first major modern city to completely run dry.
How can we better manage water?
What is business doing?
Some industries have developed internal targets to reduce water use in production e.g. Nigerian Breweries by 25% and Guinness by 50%.
Corporate social responsibility Awareness campaigns and water provision is communities are other ways business can address the water crisis.
Some of these businesses also have internal policies targeted at reducing water consumption in their production processes so as to reduce pressure on water due to urbanization and industrialization.The next sequent step of engagement is increasing collaboration between businesses, communities, civil society actors and government to ensure that water solutions are sufficiently joined-up and sustainable.
There is also room for funding for innovation and technology in water management,to address the gap in service delivery and improve access to safe water.

Driven largely by climate disasters and conflict, levels of acute hunger surged in 2017, leaving some 124 million people across 51 countries facing hunger crises –11 million more than the previous year, according to a new United Nations report.
“Reports such as this give us the vital data and analysis to better understand the challenge.
It is now up to us to take action to meet the needs of those facing the daily scourge of hunger and to tackle its root causes,” said Secretary-General António Guterres in a video message on the report.
The increase is largely attributable to new or intensified conflict and insecurity in Myanmar, north-east Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Yemen.
“The fighting must stop now and the world must come together to avert these crises often happening right in front of our eyes,” underscored David Beasley, WFP Executive Director.
Mr. da Silva stated: “Investing in food security and livelihood in conflict situations saves lives, strengthens resilience and can also contribute to sustaining peace.” We must acknowledge and address the link between hunger and conflict if we are to achieve zero hunger — José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General The report finds that food crises are increasingly determined by other complex causes as well, such as extreme climatic shocks and high prices of staple food – often acting at the same time.
For instance, prolonged drought conditions resulted in consecutive poor harvests in countries already facing high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in eastern and southern Africa.
The report also flags that entire communities and more children and women are in need of nutritional support compared to last year, indicating the need for long-lasting solutions to revert the trend.
The report, which brings together regional and national data and analysis from multiple sources, demonstrates that in addition to critically needed humanitarian aid, development action needs to engage much earlier so as to tackle the root causes of extreme vulnerability, therefore, building resilience.
“This Global Report on Food Crises shows the magnitude of today’s crises but also shows us that if we bring together political will and today’s technology, we can have a world that’s more peaceful, more stable and where hunger becomes a thing of the past,” Mr. Beasley concluded.

This was revealed by the Chief of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), UNICEF Nigeria, Zaid Jurji, in collaboration with‎ the recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2016/17, which also indicated that about 40 per cent of households do not have access to clean water sources.
‎He said: "For Nigeria to achieve the global goal of providing access to safe water for every citizen by 2030, it needs to make water, together with sanitation and hygiene, a national priority.
This goal is closely linked with three key results for the country-good health, environment sustainability and economic prosperity.
‎"Access to safe drinking water remains a challenge to majority of Nigerians, especially those living in the rural areas.
"In the rural areas, 19 million people walk long distances to collect unsafe water from lakes, streams and rivers.
"Children without access to safe water are more likely to die in infancy and throughout childhood from water-borne diseases.
Diarrhea remains the leading cause of death among children under five years of age in Nigeria.
"Waterborne diseases also contribute to stunting.
A stunted child is shorter than he or she could have been, and will never be able to reach his or her full cognitive potential.
UNICEF, in collaboration with the federal, state and local governments, has provided safe water during the past five years to over eight million Nigerians living in rural areas.

The Federal Government in collaboration with The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), have stressed the importance of water and sanitation in safeguarding the health of the children.
In his presentation, the UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Abuja, Zaid Jurji, said investment in water and sanitation is necessary in order for Nigeria to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.
At the community level, there is a need for them to work at sustainability,” he said.
According to him, only less than 10 per cent of water in Nigeria is suitable for drinking.
Open defecation can also make water unsuitable for drinking despite how much effort we put in to make it suitable”.
Jurji mentioned that 25 per cent of the population in Nigeria practise open defecation, according to the MICS report.
According to him, “It is a fact that UNICEF and EU has been in the forefront of ensuring that we have access to safe drinking water supply, adequate sanitation and proper hygiene in our environment and communities.” Speaking further, Osanyinpeju said WASH remained very important in the life of a Child and significant to achieving Sustaining Development Goal 6.
Open defecation is incredibly dangerous, as contact with human waste can cause diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, diarrhoea, worm infestation and undernutrition.” Osanyinpeju said there was a need to improve on water and sanitation in order to end Open Defecation by 2030.
According to him; “Washing hands with soap after going to the toilet or before eating can have a significant impact on children’s health.
Good hygiene practices reduce the incidence of diseases such as pneumonia, trachoma, scabies, skin and eye infections and diarrhoea-related diseases like cholera and dysentery.” “Research has also shown that regular hand washing with soap can reduce the incidents of diarrhoea, a disease which can be deadly to children.” In the same vein, The Plateau state Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy, Engineer David Wuyep who declared the Media Dialogue open, commended UNICEF for its intervention in the provision of water in the state and assured that the state government will always ensure prompt payment of counterpart funds.

As they gather together in London today, as well as in the months ahead, governments and leaders from around the world must take urgent action to avert a catastrophe in Somalia.
The future looks promising, but all of this could be derailed if we do not work together to consign hunger to Somalia’s history.
In Somalia this prompted a response, led by UK Aid, which saved millions of lives and kept famine at bay.
Despite the generosity of the UK public, timely action from donors, governments and NGOs, and the cooperation and pragmatism of the Federal Government of Somalia, more than five million people are still in need of urgent assistance.
For Suweys and millions of Somali children, humanitarian assistance is the difference between life and death.
Last year, Save the Children reached hundreds of thousands of children and their families.
Along with our partners, we need to reach at least the same number again this year.
Leadership is required to invest in these solutions in Somalia, alongside urgent humanitarian assistance.
The World Bank’s International Development Assistance (IDA) contains precisely the level of resource required to build safety nets, resilience and drought response mechanisms – and to keep famine at bay.
By building on this progress, we can save countless lives now – and deliver a safer, healthier and more prosperous Somali future.

Perhaps, this precarious situation is a manifestation of the projections made by the Global World Water Report that the world would have only 60% of the water it needs by 2030.
Considering this situation, there must be concerted efforts of all countries to effect a significant policy that would drive development of water resources and accelerate production and supply of water for sustaining the world population.
However, Nigeria is not relenting, as the country has developed a National Water Resources Master Plan, spanning 2014 – 2030, for water resources development, water supply, irrigation, and other related issues, that would resolve the major challenges inhibiting efficiency of water supply in the Country.
Lagos, a resilient state and the commercial hub of Africa, with the population of over 22 million people, is unperturbed about this situation as it is continuously putting in place various strategies to tackle the challenge of water scarcity before it arises.
The state has developed a Lagos Water Supply Master Plan (2010 – 2020) as a road map to tackling the challenge of water production and supply.
These water plants are currently supplying over 10 communities in Agbowa /Ikorodu area of the State.
Other proposed schemes include Adiyan Phase III of 70MGD, with 6,295 km network, Ibese Phase I Water Treatment Plant of 50 MGD, and the Yewa/Ishasi water scheme calculated to produce 85MGD In addition, a proposed integrated water supply in Ikorodu and its peri-urbans will be executed to supply 35MGD.
This project will comprise upgrading Ota-Ikosi from 4MGD to 31MGD; the rehabilitation of Oke-Ota-Ona Water Plant and Lagos road mini waterworks currently supplying 3MGD and 2MGD respectively.
The Corporation now produces and supplies uninterrupted water to residents in the State, evidenced by the fact that communities that had never been supplied water for many years are now being supplied potable water.
While as of now water demand in the state is 540 MGD, and supply is 220 MGD, there is a great gap of 320 MGD Therefore, based on the present plans and ongoing water projects in the state, Lagos Water Corporation has the capacity to deliver 745MGD, when demand hits 733MGD, giving the State excess of 12MGD.

WorldStage Newsonline— As part of efforts to safe guard the quality of water supply across the country, the Federal Government on Thursday unveiled the Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) to protect Nigerians from consuming contaminated water.
Speaking at the event in Abuja the Minister of Water Resources, Engr.
Suleiman Adamu said the ministry has been assigned the responsibility of enforcement.
He noted that not much had been done in respect to enforcement of standard with water producers, carrying on with business without regard for the quality.
Adamu said: “This issue precipitated the reassignment of role of stakeholders during the review of the standard in 2015 by the Technical Committee.” He said the ministry was committed to upgrading the water quality laboratories located in Lagos, Akure, kano, Minna, Enugu, Gombe, Maiduguri, Sokoto, makurdi, Umuahia, Asaba and Port Harcourt.
He identified clean water as one of the important determinant to good health adding that, about 60% of diseases in developing countries are related to unsafe water supply and inadequate sanitation.
The minister said according to World Health Organisation (WHO), “diseases related to drinking water contamination represent a major burden on human health and interventions to improve the quality of drinking water provide significant benefits to the health and well being of the people.” Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Dr. Musa Ibrahim said much progress has been made in providing water supply facilities in Nigeria.
Ibrahim said: “According to data from 2016 multiple indicator cluster survey 5 (MICS 5), access to improved drinking water supply sources is estimated at 64.1% in the country.
Giving the scale of the challenge, this is highly remarkable achievement.” He noted that the quality of water is highly compromised during collection, trough transport to point of use, so that for the same period the percentage access to safe drinking water is 32.1%, adding that the NSDWQ NIS-554-2015 will improve quality of water consumption.
Director General Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Osita Aboloma, represented by the Deputy Director SON, Mrs. Elisie Ofili emphasized the use of that NSDWQ by all stakeholders in the water supply sector.

L-R: Engr Oladimeji Botimi, Director Watr Supply Ondo state, RUWASSA; Dr. Musa Ibrahim; Permanent Secretary FMWR; Engr.
Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources; Mrs. Elisie Ofili, Deputy Director Standard organisation of Nigeria and Mr. Emmanuel Awe, Director water supply, FMWR at the unveil of Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality, in Abuja.
Speaking on Thursday during the unveiling of the NSDWQ in Abuja, Engr.
Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources, noted that the ministry had been assigned the responsibility of enforcement, saying, not much had been done in respect to enforcement of standard with water producer carrying on with business without regard for the quality of drinking water supplied to the people.
He said that the water quality laboratory had the responsibility for water quality surveillance and enforcement of the standards.
Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), he said, “diseases related to drinking water contamination represent a major burden on human health and interventions to improve the quality of drinking water provide significant benefits to the health and wellbeing of the people.” Dr. Musa Ibrahim, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources said much progress had been made in providing water supply facilities in Nigeria.
He explained that “according to data from 2016 multiple indicator cluster survey 5 (MICS 5), access to improved drinking water supply sources is estimated at 64.1% in the country.
Giving the scale of the challenge, this is highly remarkable achievement.” He noted that the quality of water could be highly compromised during collection, trough transport to point of use, so that for the same period the percentage access to safe drinking water is 32.1%, adding that the NSDWQ NIS-554-2015 will improve quality of water consumption.
He said, “FMWR have been given the responsibility to enforce the standard any state agency that goes away with what we have in the standard will be penalized, we have a fine that water board will pay if the water is not according to standard.
“For the private suppliers of water we have a standard that they must collect sample of their water for test in any water laboratories of their choice every year to carry out analysis to be sure that what they are drinking is safe, adding that enforcement of standard on private water supply and owners borehole will be carried out by the water laboratories.”

LAGOS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) — Nigeria on Thursday launched the Standard for Drinking Water Quality to promote the availability of safe drinking water for all citizens.
The availability of clean water supply was the focus of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said at the launching ceremony in Abuja.
The standard sets limits for water contaminants that are hazardous to health and also provides guidelines for meeting the mandatory limits for safe water.
Quoting a World Health Organization (WHO) report, the minister said it was estimated that about 60 percent of all diseases in developing countries were related to consumption of unsafe water and poor sanitation.
Adamu said diseases related to drinking water contamination represented a major burden on national health care delivery.
He said Nigeria had made some progress in expanding the citizens’ access to improved water supply with the current access standing at 67 percent.
The minister however said it was saddening that not much had been achieved in respect of enforcement of standards, adding that water producers still operated without due regard to quality of water.
In 2005, the National Council on Water Resources recognized the need to produce a national standard for drinking water quality for the country.
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