Trend in Access to Safe Water Supply in Nigeria

Abstract

Access to safe water supply has remained an important issue in water resources development and management in Nigeria. Since access to safe water supply has is tied to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, which Nigeria is treaty to, this paper takes a general look at availability, supply and funding of domestic water in Nigeria using data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria annual reports and the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics. The paper found a decline in capital allocation for water supply, decline in access to public water supply and increased dependence on groundwater sources for domestic use in both urban and rural areas. The paper also observed high variability in urban-rural access to improved water supply. The paper concluded that there is a need to improve and increase investment/funding of water projects, especially in rural and poor urban communities to enable Nigeria to attain the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030.

Keywords: Water resources, Potable water, Groundwater, Urban/rural access.