- Government must transcend grand declarations of intent
The Federal Government’s recent declaration of a state of emergency on Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector is yet another troubling demonstration of the tendency to engage in symbolic gestures that are rarely translated into action.
Making the declaration on November 15, President Muhammadu Buhari pointed to the country’s failure to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) which expired in 2015.
Buhari lamented the worsening figures that have characterised performance in recent times; access to piped water has fallen from 32 per cent in 1990 to seven per cent in 2015, and access to improved sanitation has dropped to 29 per cent in 2015 from 38 per cent in 1990. With 25 per cent of the population engaging in open defecation, Nigeria ranked second-worst in the world for the unhygienic practice.
The decision to declare a state of emergency was taken at a Federal Executive Council meeting in April, and it is expected to initiate a break with conventional approaches to the resolution of the problem.
There is little doubt as to the seriousness of the country’s sanitation crisis. There has been a rise in the incidence of water-borne diseases with a resultant toll in deaths and lost man-hours.
In September, a cholera outbreak in the north-east claimed 434 lives in four weeks, with over 23,893 cases being reported in Borno and Yobe states. In 2008, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) put the country’s diarrhoea prevalence rate at 18.8 per cent, above the African average of 16 per cent, and accounting for an estimated 150,000 child deaths annually.
Given the critical importance of the problem, it is unclear how the declaration of a state of emergency in the water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector would help to tackle the most pressing issues. Significantly, the Federal Government is yet to come up with specific proposals on what is to be done, even though the emergency was agreed upon seven months ago.
Pious declarations of intent will amount to nothing if they are not backed up by considered action. Improving water supply will involve massive infrastructural development in water works and pipelines. Enhanced sanitation requires comprehensive strategies which incorporate the expansion of primary healthcare facilities, better drug supply, increased training and a relentless education drive.
What targets have been set? Have timelines and deadlines been established? Where are the necessary meetings with states, donors, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders? Has increased funding for sanitation projects been integrated into the budget proposals for the 2019 national budget? What are the public enlightenment strategies and when will they start?
The federal ministries of health and water resources must be in the forefront of any renewed onslaught on insanitary and unhygienic conditions in Nigeria. They are the twin arrowheads of implementation, the central planners and coordinators, as well as the main sources of authentic information. The fact that neither ministry has said anything so far on the declaration of emergency is deeply troubling.
To worsen matters, the declaration coincides with the start of intensive campaigning ahead of the 2019 General Elections. It is difficult to see how public office holders at the federal, state and local government levels can give the sanitation and hygiene crisis the attention that it needs at a time of full-time politicking.
If the Buhari administration is truly committed to improving water supply, sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria, it will have to move beyond the superficiality of words. It must engage stakeholders and work with them to come up with a viable plan of action, complete with objective measures of success. Funding for all sanitation-related projects must be properly established. Relevant ministries, agencies and departments must ensure they participate fully in the attainment of laid-down objectives. Only then will nice speeches become the basis of determined action.
