Opinion: Why Lagos must face up to its water crisis.
Akinbode Oluwafemi is the Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of The Earth Nigeria, a Nigerian NGO that tackles environmental human rights issues in Nigeria.
Lagos (CNN)Lagos is a city surrounded by water, yet there is none to drink.
Access to formal clean water is abysmally low, with the majority of Lagos residents relying on the informal sector comprised of wells, boreholes, rivers and rain water.
In 2016 daily demand in the state stood at 724 Million gallons while production was 317 million gallons, leaving a gap of 407 million gallons.
Worse still, some of the water never reaches households due to perennial fracture from dilapidated transmission pipes and old trunk lines.
As water is essential to both physical and economic well-being the lack of it causes numerous problems.
In Lagos it is a major public health threat because of the interconnectedness of water access to sanitation and public health.
As far back as the 1980s, the Lagos state government has implemented loans provided by and financed by the World Bank as solutions to the water crisis.
The draft law enraged civil society groups and the international community.

On hearing the arrival of newborn, the village women began to take their empty water cans to embark on a walk to the neighbouring village to fetch water.
The trek to the next village has in the past years been strewn with life threatening possibilities.
The water basin of the lake is drying up.
Water is the currency of life and economic activities in the Lake Chad region.
As soon as Amsatu weaned her baby and is back on her feet, it becomes incumbent on her to contribute water to the families of other women in the village that have gone into labour.
In recent years, the region has witnessed both the drying up of rivers and drought, the result of this is an ensuing competition by locals to migrate to communities in areas where there are pastures.
Nothing ever gets reported of these little wars because they get swallowed up in the bigger conflict that is the Boko Haram insurgency.
Investigations by this reporter also reveal that availability of vegetation and water are often a motivation for Boko Haram insurgents’ invasion of communities in the past four years.
The incidence of clashes between villagers that are mainly farmers and armed herdsmen in areas where there is water resource has refused to go away.
Abbas has warned that, “Irrigation water abstraction on the banks and from digging wells and puddles on the dry bed lead to an unprecedented drying up of rivers.” A villager, Abubakar Grema said, the situation in his village close to Banki town at the border with Cameroon was very dire, “sadly, we have resisted other villagers from settling in our village in order to safeguard our scarce water resource.” They have often used the water in their village to appease the insurgents who also are in need of it, and because of this arrangement, they were hardly attacked by them.

Geography Lagos- Location, Population Growth, Economic Challenges, Traffic Issues, Water Pollution.
If you’re educated, then more likely to find work in growing industry, e.g. finance/film/fashion What are economic opportunities in Lagos?
-Informal economy is a type of employment that comprises work done without official knowledge of government & so, without paying taxes.
-Life expectancy, yrs spent in school & wealth have all improved significantly in 21stC -Lagos is above average improvement with better health care, education & employment than rural areas.
a) Obtaining raw materials from land or sea b) Manufacturing to produce goods c) Services that people need What is the main type of employment in Lagos?
-tertiary- 78%- services that people need, as Lagos is home to many new service industries, e.g. finance in the CBD Why is the informal economy important?
Water vendors How does water treatment plants supply water?
How do water vendors supply water?
-Rapidly growing industries unregulated, so industries further pollute water with chemicals -Access to proper toilets is limited, so people use pit latrines/pail latrines, polluting groundwater.
-In 2003, government set up Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) to improve transport in city.

Niger earmarks N43m for potable water supply to New-Bussa.
The Niger State Government says it has earmarked N43 million for the provision of potable water for the people of New-Bussa in Borgu Local Government Area of the state.
The Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, made the disclosure on Sunday when he paid courtesy visit to the Emir of Borgu, Alhaji Mohammed Kintoro IV.
Bello said: “Government has earmarked N43 million for water supply project in New-Bussa very soon you will see the contractor on site.
He commended the emir for ensuring peaceful coexistence of the people of the emirate and urged him to continue the good work.
He said: “We want you to urgently intervene in solving the perennial water scarcity in our Emirate.” He said despite the presence of Kainji dam in New-Bussa, the people area faced hardship due to lack of portable water supply.
The emir also appealed to the state government to assist the people in drilling boreholes, adding that the Kainji Dam in the area had affected all traditional water sources for the people.
Copyright The Eagle Online.
Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.theeagleonline.com.ng as the source.
Follow @DEagleOnline