WorldStage Newsonline— The Society for Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN) has urged state governments to take up the responsibility of providing potable water for its citizens to promote wellbeing and overall target of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
The Group’s National Coordinator, Mr Benson Attah, made this call in a statement to commemorate the 2018 World Water Day.
He said it was time for the various state governments to live up to their responsibilities to their citizens by providing potable water and encouraging hygiene among the people.
He said it was important that Nigeria stops its dependence on development partners to provide the required services, saying taking ownership was the right thing to be done.
“State governments should take up the responsibility of providing improved water facilities and not depend on development partners to provide the required services and facilities to their citizens. Failure to do this has been the reason why it has not been possible for the states to achieve previous water and sanitation goals and this has been largely due to lack of commitment.
Attah urged committed partners to ensure that they are armed with research based strategies in order to avoid unnecessary waste of resources..
He pledged the commitment of the organisation to continue to work with stakeholders at all levels. He reaffirmed the commitment of the organization to the achievement of Water and Sanitation goal in the country.
He noted that clean and accessible water for all was an essential part of the world we must aspired to live in and that there was sufficient fresh water on the planet to achieve the goal.
“But due to bad economics or poor infrastructure, every year millions of people, most of them children, die from diseases associated with poor and inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
“Goal-6 of the SDGs will remain un-achievable without the availability and access to improved water and this has come as a reminder and, to stress the fact that SDG: 6 remains central to the achievement of many of the SDGs.”
He expressed his commitment in ensuring that the country remains on track and moving steadily towards the realization of the goal of the organization.
According to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) figures, Nigeria has 67 per cent of water coverage.
However, poor water management leaves millions of Nigerians experiencing severe water scarcity annuallly.
With an estimated 1,530 cubic meters of renewable freshwater available per person per year as at 2015 (a reduction from 2007 levels of 2,085 cubic meters), Nigeria is marked as a water-stressed country.
