President Muhammadu Buhari has
declared a state of emergency on Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene
sector.
Buhari made the declaration at
the inauguration of the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of Water
Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector at State House Conference Centre
on Thursday in Abuja.
He directed governments at all
levels to intensify efforts and work towards meeting the nation’s water supply
and sanitation needs.
Buhari warned that henceforth
Federal Government’s support to state governments would be based on their
commitment to implementing the National WASH Action Plan in their respective
states and to end open defecation by 2025.
The president said the
declaration had become critical to reduce the high-prevalence of water-borne
diseases in different parts of the country, which has caused preventable
deaths.
He described statistics on open
defecation, access to piped water services and sanitation in the country as
”disturbing”.
“Access to piped water services
which was 32 per cent in 1990 has declined to seven per cent in 2015; access to
improved sanitation has also decreased from 38 per cent in 1990 to 29 per cent
in 2015.
“Our country now ranks number two
in the global rating on Open Defecation as about 25 per cent of our population
are practicing open defecation.
“WASH services at the rural areas
are unsustainable as 46 per cent of all water schemes are non-functional, and
the share of our spending on WASH sector has been declining from 0.70 per cent
of the GDP in 1990 to about 0.27 per cent in 2015, which is far below the 0.70
per cent at the West African regional level,” Buhari said.
The president restated that the
provision of potable water supply, adequate sanitation and hygiene were
primarily the responsibilities of State and Local Governments.
According to him, water supply
and sanitation are not being given the required attention judging from the high
prevalence of water-borne diseases that are being reported in different parts
of the country.
He said that the stakeholders
could not and would not continue to allow the preventable occurrences to
decimate Nigeria’s population.
Buhari said that he was aware
that Nigeria did not meet the MDG targets for Water Supply and Sanitation that
ended in 2015.
“The Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) targets (6.1 and 6.2) for WASH are even more demanding as they
require WASH services to be provided in adequate quantity and quality on
premises at affordable prices.
“This cannot be achieved if we
continue with ‘a business as usual’ approach.
“It is on this premise that I
fully endorse the decision taken at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council
in April this year to declare a State of Emergency on our WASH Sector.
“I call on all state governments
to complement this effort by according the sector similar recognition to enable
us work together to achieve the SDG targets for WASH by 2030.’’
At the federal level, Buhari
pledged that his administration would continue to place priority on
infrastructure development including those of water supply, sanitation and
hygiene services towards ensuring a better life for Nigerians.
According to him, the commitment
is being demonstrated through faithful implementation of the Economic Recovery
and Growth Plan (ERGP) – which is the present administration’s blueprint for
infrastructure and economic development.
“From the inception of this
administration, we have demonstrated serious commitment to the development of
the Water Sector by preserving the Ministry of Water Resources and subsequently
approving the 15-year roadmap developed for the sector.
“The transformation being
witnessed in the sector since then is highly commendable.
“I have no doubt that the
on-going initiatives including the implementation of the Partnership for
Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH) in the Ministry will
take the water sector to improved performance and supply, thereby meeting the
national aspirations as well as the SDGs,” he said.
The event was attended by
representatives of state governments and development partners.
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