EDDY OCHIGBO, Kaduna
A recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that over 100,000 Nigerian children less than five years of age die each year due to cholera and other water-borne diseases. This is a sad reminder of the endemic poverty of millions of Nigerians who dwell in very poor sanitary condition across the country. The report also brought to the fore the growing failure of leadership in the country. Millions of Nigerians live in squalid conditions, without potable water or healthcare facilities, thereby exposing them to environmental diseases associated with unhygienic environmental conditions. It also revealed an embarrassing shortfall in human development index, in a nation that should have addressed its healthcare deficit long before now.
According to the report, Nigeria should invest three times more in the water sector to ensure that every Nigerian has access to clean water and a toilet as lack of access to water is impacting negatively on their well-being, especially the most vulnerable. The lack of basic facilities, ranging from water supply, toilets etc., in both urban and rural schools is of serious concern, as children who do not have access to water are most likely to lose interest in pursuing their education, as they are forced to spend more time in search of water during school hours or stay out of school to recover from illness caused by frequent episodes of diarrhea. Access to clean drinkable water is a human right – just like the right to food and the right to live without discrimination.
Diseases like diarrhea have been responsible for 90% of children death due to unsafe water and sanitation. The report indicated that only 13% of schools have access to basic water and sanitation services. The report explained that data from the WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASH NORM) showed that 47 million Nigerians engage in open defecation, and only 11% have access to complete basic water, sanitation and hygiene services. Ending open defecation and making water, sanitation and hygiene services available to all Nigerians is one of the biggest challenges confronting the country.
The UNICEF data also revealed that as much as 53% of rural dwellers lack access to improved drinking water against the 75% of urban dwellers. Similarly, another UN World Water Development Report had listed Nigeria among the worst of African countries losing $28.4 billion yearly to lack of access to potable water and basic sanitation. That figure represents 5% of Africa’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). With the resources at Nigeria’s disposal, it is unacceptable that citizens, especially children, continue to be afflicted with water-borne and sundry communicable diseases. Reports of Nigeria’s performance in all sectors are discouraging, as the ranking in all development indices remains very low. Sadly enough, governments at all levels in Nigeria either lack the political will to tackle the real issues or are too bogged down serving selfish interests to care about the people.
Cholera is an acute gastrointestinal disease caused by Vibrio cholera. The bacterium generates a soluble toxin in the intestinal tract that activates watery diarrhea leading to extreme loss of fluid, dehydration and collapse. The fatality rate is very high if left untreated, especially among children and infants. Deaths can also occur in adults in a matter of hours after initial presentation. Since it was discovered in 1883 by the German bacteriologist, Robert Koch (1843-1910), cholera has wreaked havoc in different parts of the world, especially in poor countries.
In Nigeria, cholera epidemic has been recurrent for decades due to poor hygiene and poor water supply and use. People commonly urinate and defecate in the open, while the wastes are washed into open filthy drains. Apart from that setback, the propensity for contamination is very high from roadside food vendors and people eating in unhygienic condition. It is not surprising that Nigeria continues to record cholera outbreaks with several fatalities, leaving scores hospitalized and stretching facilities to the limits. Even urban dwellers are not immune to cholera outbreaks as result of negligence on the part of government.
Government’s insensitivity at all levels to the health of the people tops the chart, as water supply responsibility is shared among three levels of federal, states and local governments: federal for water resources management; states for urban supply and local governments for rural supply. Apart from issues of poor access to clean water, sanitation is not given adequate attention by Nigerians themselves, which is why there is a great risk to their health and survival. Where available, water supply quality is low. Investments financed by foreign donors are hardly enough to achieve a significant impact. The nation’s population too keeps increasing. There is hardly any sector monitoring access to water and sanitation. Conflicts continue to exist due to divergent indices and methodologies adopted by agencies saddled with the responsibility of restoring sanity the troubled sector.
Available records indicate that water and sanitation coverage rates in Nigeria are among the lowest in the world. For instance, no urban community except Abuja and some parts of Lagos can boast of a credible sewage system. The other challenges include, but not limited to poor maintenance culture on available water production facilities operating below capacity. Official corruption, low capacity development, erratic electricity supply to the water plants, poorly maintained pipes that promote leakages, non-operational government-owned water systems in small towns which force residents to resort to wells, streams and rivers or any source whatsoever in extreme cases are also debilitating factors.
The National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy approved in 2000 to encourage private sector participation has failed woefully. This is partly because the policy focuses only on water supply to the detriment of sanitation. Many states with crumbling water supply networks are equally guilty of giving less priority to water and sanitation. Were it not for self-help initiatives by individuals and institutions to drill boreholes in towns and cities, the situation could have been worse. However, either for lack of awareness or wrong attitude to preventive health, matters of sanitation are given little attention by most residents in towns and cities. In concrete terms, residents have to avail themselves of improved sanitation and clean or treated water and no matter the cost; governments have a duty to be more responsive and responsible in the provision of basic water facilities.
The best way to combat cholera and water-borne diseases is through improved sanitation. Through appropriate investments and capacity building for communities, governments can do more to increase access to potable water. Public health awareness is still poor in many areas in spite of claims to the contrary. There should also be regular public enlightenment on personal hygiene, washing of hands, especially, after visiting the toilet and keeping surroundings clean. Unfortunately, only a few homes have good public water supply. The UNICEF report challenged Nigerian leaders to address basic social amenities that make for good hygiene and improved sanitation. Anti-cholera interventions should be holistic, targeting short-term measures and long-term improvement in human development indices.
By and large, the issue of potable water supply in Nigeria – from whichever angle one looks at it – cannot be overemphasized. Given the current poor record of Nigeria in the area of providing adequate water supply for the citizenry, it is hoped that government at all levels, would have a rethink and focus attention on the sector, to ameliorate the current hardship facing the people.