Buhari Declares State of Emergency on Water Sanitation

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja declared a state of emergency on Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector and advised state governments to do same.

Making the declaration at the inauguration of the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector at the State House Conference Centre, the president said the declaration had become imperative if cases of highprevalence of water-borne diseases leading to preventable deaths in different parts of the country would be reduced.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, Buhari directed government at all levels to redouble efforts and work towards meeting the nation’s water supply and sanitation needs.

He also said the president described statistics on open defecation, access to pipe-borne water services and sanitation in the country as ‘’disturbing,’’ warning that henceforth, the federal government’s support to state governments will be based on their commitment to implement the National WASH Action Plan in their respective states and to end open defecation by 2025.

‘’Access to piped water services which was 32 percent in 1990 has declined to seven percent in 2015; access to improved sanitation has also decreased from 38 per cent in 1990 to 29 per cent in 2015.

‘’Our country now ranks No 2 in the global rating on Open Defecation as about 25 per cent of our population are practising open defecation.

“WASH services at the rural areas are unsustainable as 46 per cent of all water schemes are non-functional, and the share of our spending on WASH sector has been declining from 0.70 per cent of the GDP in 1990 to about 0.27 per cent in 2015 which is far below the 0.70 per cent at the West African regional level,’’ he was quoted as as saying.

According to the statement, the president used the occasion, which it said was attended by state government representatives and development partners, to reiterate that the provision of potable water supply, adequate sanitation and hygiene are primarily the responsibilities of state and local governments.

‘’However, these are not being given the required attention judging from the high prevalence of waterborne diseases that are being reported in different parts of the country. We cannot and will not continue to allow these preventable occurrences to decimate our population,’’ he was further quoted. It also said Buhari told the gathering that he was aware that Nigeria did not meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets for water supply and sanitation which ended in 2015.