By Bunmi Yekini
As the world prepares to mark World Water Day 2025, a new investigative report has painted a grim picture of Nigeria’s water supply system, exposing widespread decay, corruption, and government neglect.
The report, Dry Taps: A Damning Verdict on the State of Water Utilities in Nigeria, was compiled by Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI), Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF), the Ecumenical Water Network Africa (EWN-A), Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDEC) in collaboration with the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Service Employees (AUPCTRE), following fact-finding visits to water utilities in six states, Enugu, Edo, Lagos, Oyo, Kogi, and Kano.
Among the key findings are crumbling infrastructure due to lack of maintenance, erratic power supply, poor funding for water treatment chemicals, worker shortages, and non-payment of salaries.
Government to Blame
Speaking at the report’s public presentation in Abuja, AUPCTRE General Secretary, Comrade Sikiru Waheed, emphasized that the study, though covering only six states, reflects the national crisis in access to potable water.
“Due to manpower and resource challenges, the research focused on cities, but we already know that in rural areas, where 70 percent of Nigerians live, people rely on streams, rivers, and private vendors,” Waheed said.
The Executive Director of the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Philip Jakpor, was even more direct in placing blame.
“The investigations we conducted exposed what is already in plain sight. Now we can lay the blame for the parlous state of water in Nigeria exactly where it should be – government at both state and federal levels. They continue to allocate funds to the water sector, yet there is nothing to show for it. This is a deliberate strategy to collapse public utilities and pave the way for privatization,” Jakpor stated.
The Executive Director of the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), Barrister Chima Williams, described government efforts to provide water as “a ruse.”
“What we have found in all the states we visited is that state governments are only sloganeering about ensuring access to potable water. How else can one explain their neglect of billion-naira water utilities? It is shocking and depressing,” Williams lamented.
A Looming Public Health Disaster
In many states, the findings were particularly alarming.
- In Kano, the three major waterworks serve less than 10 percent of the city’s population.
- In Enugu, billions of naira were reportedly spent on water projects, yet the Enugu Water Corporation has only 11,234 registered customers.
- At the Eleyele Scheme in Ibadan, numerous electricity generators are used to pump water due to erratic power supply.
- In Edo, the Ikpoba River Dam, once producing over 90 million gallons per day, is now abandoned. Private fish ponds have been established near the site.
- Kogi’s Greater Lokoja Waterworks and zonal sub-stations have been shut down since 2022 due to flood damage.
- In Lagos, despite N760 million allocated for rehabilitating 48 mini and micro waterworks in 2017, most remain non-functional. The Adiyan and Iju Waterworks operate well below capacity.
Executive Director of Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF), Comrade Sani Baba, warned that continued neglect could trigger a public health disaster.
“If the government continues on this trajectory of neglect, a public health disaster of unimaginable proportions is inevitable. The appetite for privatization sweeping across the country, from Lagos to Kano, will ultimately blow no good because it does not address rural communities,” Baba cautioned.
Calls for Reform
The report’s authors made several recommendations, urging the federal and state governments to:
- Declare a state of emergency in the water sector.
- Reject all forms of water privatization and commodification.
- Fully uphold the human right to water as a government responsibility.
- Investigate billions of naira spent on failed water schemes.
- Strengthen public accountability in water management.
Coordinator of the Ecumenical Water Network Africa (EWNA), Reverend Kolade Fadahunsi, alongside other researchers, highlighted that staff morale in water utilities is at an all-time low, with many workers nearing retirement and no succession plans in place.
With millions of Nigerians lacking access to potable water, the report serves as a wake-up call for urgent government action, before taps across the country run completely dry.