nigeria: denying access to drinking
water
Although not the result of deliberate
government policy, the privatization of
water resources in Nigeria is happening -
and happening rapidly. In the 1970’s, the
Nigerian government built many large dams
for irrigation and to provide water for the
population. However, the dams were not
maintained and water systems have
deteriorated. To counter this, the
government started to grant licenses to
private companies to collect and distribute
water.
Involving the private sector means water
provision is no longer seen as a social
service. Water has become a tradable
commodity, a product thatmust be paid for.
For the rich elite this is not a problem,
but for Nigeria’s poor it is another matter
entirely. For them, the situation is
compounded by the pollution of streams and
rivers, which the rural people originally
depended on for fresh water. Industrial
effluent and pollution from oil companies
empty directly into these natural water
bodies and have rendered them unsafe. As a
result the poorest are effectively denied
access to safe drinking water – because
they must pay.
Government licensing of water services
has also proved to be a problem because
licensing is not based on a particular
company’s ability to supply quality water
or increase distribution. True, several
sub-standard water companies have been shut
down by the controlling federal agency;
however, many others still flood the market
with unclean and uncertified water for
consumption. Furthermore, companies are
mainly interested in providing water to
rich neighbourhoods in the cities. In many
rural areas, the poor are increasingly cut
off from water supplies and forced to buy
their water from water sellers, which is
prohibitively expensive. Thus villagers,
mostly women and children, still trek many
miles to collect water from what are now
polluted streams.
Local environmental groups have started
to campaign against water privatization. A
key concern is the licensing of companies
who do not manage water tables sustainably,
since the uncontrolled private and
commercial digging of boreholes for water
will eventually deplete underground
aquifers. It is unknown how many tens of
thousands of boreholes are in operation in
Nigeria. Thus ERA/FoE Nigeria and other
local groups are developing an inventory of
existing boreholes, to monitor and
ascertain the viability of current water
abstraction levels.
more information
Environmental Rights
Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria
