63 million Nigerian people lack access to clean and safe water

Global Business

As the world celebrates the World Water Day this Tuesday, an international agency Oxfam, says access to safe water and sanitation by Nigerians remains a major challenge, affecting mostly women. Nigeria has about 39 percent of her population still lacking access to safe or clean water sources.

CCTV’s Sophia Adengo reports.

Blessing Isa and her son wake up early for what has become their morning routine, pumping water from a drilled community bore hole near their home in Kwali 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Abuja city.

She said, “We used to walk miles to fetch water by the river. Now we fetch from this bore hole nearby and have time to cook and wash. Water is everything.”

For the 80,000 people who live here, there’s only one bore hole for every 60 households.

At a nearby clinic an improved water source is accessed by members of the community only once a week. Aid workers say funding for water and basic amenities for sanitation cannot depend on government alone.

Maintaining water infrastructure has also proved challenging.

Aid agencies estimate over half of the of the population does not have access to safe water, putting many at risk of infectious disease and premature death, but because of community initiatives like this, those numbers are reducing.

While the U.N. sustainable goals aim to provide universal access to water and sanitation by 2030, for now Blessing Isa and other families in Kwali will have to rely primarily on this community bore hole.


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