The Zaria protest over water scarcity Monday

[bamalli]

The Zaria protest over water scarcity Monday
   
The recent protest over water scarcity and epileptic power supply staged by residents of Zaria in Kaduna state is a portent message to those in authority that the situation demands immediate solution to avert unmanageable crisis. The protest was expression of frustration by citizens over decades of suffering due to government insensitivity to their plight.  The Zaria water project has over the years suffered neglect from successive governments of Kaduna state, despite billions of naira purportedly expended on it.  It has become something of a cash-cow for those in authority milk in the name of contracts that have been awarded and re-awarded times with no result to show; the problem persists. As the parlous water situation, so also with the power sector, which seems to have defied solution as government repeatedly made promises that have not been redeemed.  Inevitably, the water and electricity condition is being used as campaign platform to garner votes from the people. The government should launch a special   inquiry into what happened to all the huge sums of money set aside annually for the projects.

Zaria's case may be unique, but in truth the problem of water is endemic in most part of the country including the Federal Capital Territory. Unlike electricity, there is no alternative to water. Water shortage in Nigeria is more pronounced in urban centres where more than large percent of the national population lives. While the urban well-to-dos can afford the cost and luxury of sinking boreholes in their homes, Nigerians living in rural areas rely on polluted water from streams and rivers for drinking and domestic need, exposing them to a spectrum of water borne diseases.

According to the 2005 data of the World Health Organisation (WHO), everyday, some 3,900 children die as a result of dirty water or poor hygiene. Research also revealed that diseases transmitted through water or human excrement are the second highest killers worldwide, after respiratory diseases.

Similarly, experts said the lack of access to safe water is associated with four billion cases of diarrhoea each year and results in the death of 1.7 billion people globally, most of who are under the age of 5 years. Research also described diarrhoea as the second biggest killer of children in Nigeria, causing as many as 17 per cent of the deaths of those under the age of 5. This is largely a result of unsafe water and poor hygiene. The seeming availability of water is not a reflection of a comprehensive government's effort; rather it is a result of the proliferation of boreholes by private individuals, communities and, in some cases, local government councils.

In the 1970's, the Federal Government established River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA) to provide a platform for harnessing the nation's water resources. Though the water policy of 2000 gave the River Basins the responsibility to provide water for domestic, farming and industrial use, what they actually engage in is project execution. Nigeria's power and energy supply is dismally poor; without constant electricity supply, providing good water becomes a special challenge. The RBDAs have performed below expectation.

In the specific case of Zaria, it necessary that the Kaduna state government hasten the completion of the abandoned water project there, while it works out a workable arrangement with federal government on how to stabilise power supply to the waterworks. A long-term solution to the nation's water supply challenge is for governments at all levels to be serious in resuscitating all the many abandoned water projects as well as making RBDAs execute their full mandates. Existing water projects supported by the African Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank and other donor agencies should also be taken care of.

The recent launching of the so-called Road Map for Nigeria Water Sector by President Goodluck Jonathan which is targeted to make potable water available for all by the year 2015, should not stop at sloganeering, but should be implemented with utmost diligence. This is important because a recent studies conducted by the United Nations  predicted that there could be water war by 2020  if integrated water resources management and water efficiency strategy are not implemented in Nigeria. With the Zaria incident, it may be that the water war is much closer at hand than people think. The authorities should take steps now to avert it.