The federal government has constructed 10,568 sanitation facilities to increase access to water supply and sanitation across the country.
Minister of Water Resources, Prof Joseph Utsev, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja during an event to commemorate the 2024 World Water Day with the theme, “Water for Peace.”
Prof Utsev stated that the ministry has constructed 6,761 water schemes to serve over 32 million people in urban, semi-urban and rural areas.
He maintained that the current rate of access to safe water stands at 67 percent while access to basic sanitation facilities is 46 percent.
The minister lamented that 25 out of every 100 persons get their water from open streams and ponds which are often contaminated thereby posing great risk to the health of the people.
Prof Utsev thanked development partners including UNESCO, WaterAid, Fordmarx and LG Electronics for their invaluable efforts and called for continuous collaborations for greater success in the water sector.
Fordmarx Nigeria Limited’s Clifford Nnaji promised to construct 37 solar-powered boreholes and 37 solar-powered irrigation plants, one in every state and the FCT, and create 30 million jobs in the next one year.
Awards were also presented to schools for performing excellently in a competition to mark the day while a solar-powered borehole was commissioned at Durumi 3 community, Abuja to assuage the water challenge of residents.
Presenting the UN 2024 report tagged, “Water for Prosperity and Peace”, UNESCO representative, Abourahamanne Diallo, regretted that over 90 percent of waste-water in developing countries are channeled into running water without treatment adding that 80 percent of rural dwellers lack access to safe water.
Diallo called on government to bridge the poverty and inequality gap among the people to reduce conflicts and social tension in the country.
