As Nigeria joins the global community to commemorate the 2019 World Water Day, elected political leaders have been urged to be accountable to citizens by prioritising access to clean water.
Mr Shem Adah, Executive Director, Advocacy for Development, Health and Environmental sustainability (ADHES), Nigeria, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday.
He noted that effects of poor sanitation cuts across health, society, economic, human capital, stressing that all tiers of government ought to have budget line for Sanitation.
“Now, our new political executives are coming on board, we need to hold them accountable to their campaign promises; they promised to be responsive in developmental issue.
‘”They must recognise that access to clean water is a human right issue, and lack of it means that we have non inclusion in the country.
” If we are all working together by leaving none behind, we will achieve our global goals and Nigeria will be better for it,” he said.
While commending the President for declaring a state of emergency in the WASH sector, Adah said this was a sign of good things to come, calling for everyone to be committed to reversing the narrative.
He said the theme of ‘Leave No One Behind’ , has stressed the need for stakeholders’ involvement to meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) six on improving access to clean water and sanitation.
According to him, the prevalence of diseases in the country is in a way as a result of poor sanitation and water.
“In 2018 data on Cholera outbreak, no fewer than 40,000 persons were affected.
“This is as a result of lack of access to clean water, if we don’t take this issue serious, funds meant for development may be used to treat illnesses if we don’t prevent such.”
Adah said the state and local governments must key into the action plans to revitalise the WASH sector, noting that if they don’t align programmes and policies, nothing may be achieved.
“For we to see change in the sector, the states must play key role in delivering it to the communities, they must enshrine it in their constitution that water becomes a priority.
“Access to clean water is a human right, from the local government to the next tier, they need to enforce it to ensuring that communities have access to clean water, ” he said.
The executive director said it was saddening that some communities go as long as 20 kilometres to get water for domestic purposes, saying meeting the SDGs target was possible when everyone had the basic needs to survive especially in rural areas.
In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated March 22 as World Water Day.
World Water Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and development partners.
World Water Day is about taking action to tackle the water crisis, with over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home, spending countless hours queuing or trekking to distant sources, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water.
(NAN)
