Suleiman Adamu, The Nigeria's Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu had disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari would declare a state of emergency on water
and sanitation come November 8, 2018.
Mr. Adamu made the disclosure during the Special Town Hall Meeting of
the Federal Government held at Emeritus Prof. Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall
of University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan.
The town hall meeting, which held on Wednesday, 7th November 2018, was aimed at briefing the people on the
achievements of the Buhari-led administration in infrastructural development.
“I wish to inform you that for the first time in Africa, President
Buhari is going to declare state of emergency on water and sanitation,
precisely on November 8.
The minister lamented about several abandoned water projects across
the federation under the past administrations and said that sum of N3
billion would be provided annually to states with workable water master
plans.
“The existing master plan on water resources in the country was
abandoned and contracts were awarded without recourse to the needs of
the country.
“To realise adequate water supply, we would increase our intervention
to support state governments to N3 billion annually. This would be for
states that have proper water master plan,” he said.
He said government would also return the monthly environmental
sanitation to address issue of open defecation and other sanitation
issues.
He said the federal government was working round the clock to provide
adequate water supply to communities and cities across Nigeria.
The minister said the present administration had inaugurated many
water projects, among which he said were to cater for power supply,
irrigation dams and domestic water supply.
He said, “It is a shame that today, there is no single city in this
country that can boast of pipe-borne water supply and 100 per cent
coverage to all the citizens.
“This is why the president has decided to take up the responsibility of supporting water infrastructure in Nigeria.’’
The minister also said that the federal government was working on
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Bank to assist 6 cities
in country on urban water supply.
He added that government would also sign a partnership arrangement to
improve on the Ikere Gorge Dam in Iseyin to harness its full potential.
