Seven (7) organisations have called on government at all levels to show accountability in water sector.
The organizations included the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) , Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF), the Ecumenical Water Network Africa (EWN-A), Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDEC) and New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI).
They made the call on Thursday while launching a report – Dry Taps: A Damning Verdict on the State of Water Utilities in Nigeria.
The report which was issued ahead of the World Water Day 2025 on Saturday was meant to reveal critical challenges faced by Nigerians across the country.
Comrade Sikiru Waheed, General Secretary, AUPCTRE, who read the report said the document was released to point to Nigerians the real cause of water shortage in the country.
He said the title is apt and leaves no one in doubt.
“This research is as well conducted in commemoration of the World Water Day to draw attention to the deliberate shortages of water across the country with the end game being, perivatization.
“Dry Taps: A Damning Verdict on the State of Water Utilities in Nigeria provides an insight into the seeming intractable water crisis that has enveloped all the states of the federation with particular focus on the reasons behind the situation. Like we have stated, though the scope of this research is limited only to six out of Nigeria’s 36 states, it deliberately captures the situation in at least one state per geographical zone, making it a sneak peek into the overall picture of access to water in the entire federation.
“The report covers Lagos and Oyo in the Southwest, Enugu in the Southeast, Edo State in the Niger Delta, Kano in the Northwest, as well as Kogi in North Central Nigeria. Due to manpower and resource challenges the research focused on the water situation in the cities since it is already a forgone conclusion that the rural communities where 70 percent of Nigeria’s population are found rely only on streams, rivers and in a few cases private water vendors and boreholes to meet their domestic water needs”
He said the findings presented in this report are a precursor to a broader investigation already in the works targeting all the states of the federation which will be published in the course of this year.
“We will ensure you are invited for its public presentation. The conclusions reached in this report were arrived at based on the interviews, observations and the assessments of the organisations in the respective states that carried out this work.
“Our recommendations should be a wake-up call to all genuine stakeholders in the country and the government at federal and state levels most especially. It is time for them to sincerely commit to making public water work for us all. They must be sincere and do better.“
