About 37.3 million Nigerians draw drinking water from 10,053 water supply schemes and projects developed in urban centers and rural areas by the Federal Government and its partners in various states.

Data obtained Thursday from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in Abuja showed that 6,761 of the water schemes, supplying drinking water to 32,008,600 Nigerians, were developed solely by the Federal Government between 2016 and 2022.

It was also noted that a total of 3,292 water supply projects, serving a population of 5,262,189 people, were jointly developed by the Federal Government in partnership with states, local governments, communities, donor agencies, and governments. development partners.

The joint projects were developed under the PEWASH program between 2018 and 2021, according to a document obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on water development projects executed by the Federal Government through the FMWR.

In the section on the water supply subsector, the report states that “in providing access to safe drinking water in Nigeria, 6,761 water schemes were developed in urban, small town and rural areas of the country, producing 794,334,000 liters per day and served 32,008,600 Nigerians. .”

It added: “Of the 36 ongoing legacy water supply projects, 30 have been completed, some closed or transferred to state governments.”

For the PEWASH programme, the report described the initiative as “a collaboration/partnership intervention model between key stakeholders, including the federal government, state governments, local governments, communities, donor agencies/development partners and the private sector to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) in Nigeria”.

He added: “The overall achievement and impact of the combined implementation of PEWASH by the federal government and participating state governments from 2018 to 2021 is the construction, rehabilitation and improvement of 3,292 water supply facilities with a total capacity of water production of 62,985,100 liters/day, serving a population of 5,262,189 people in the benefited communities.

“The ministry reports the construction, improvement, and rehabilitation of 2,017 water supply facilities, while the state governments report the construction, improvement, and rehabilitation of 1,275 water supply facilities.”

The FMWR explained that the provision of safe drinking water to all Nigerians was a complementary shared constitutional responsibility of the three levels of government.

The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, is responsible for policy advice and formulation, data collection, monitoring and reporting, and carrying out special interventions.

He added: “State governments through their MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies) are directly responsible for the supply of water to urban, small and rural areas.

“Local Government authorities are responsible for the provision of drinking water to rural communities in their areas of jurisdiction.”

The report outlined the top 30 water supply projects completed by FMWR between 2016 and 2022.

Some of the projects include the Central Ogbia Regional Water Supply Project, Otuoke, Bayelsa State; North Ishan Regional Water Supply Project, Edo State; and Ojirami Dam, Water Supply Scheme and Reticulation Network, Edo State.

Others include Sabke, Dutsi and Mashi Water Supply Project, Katsina

Express; Vom Water Supply Project, Plateau State; Takum Water Supply Project, Taraba State; Kazaure Water Supply Project, Jigawa State; Federal Agricultural University, Makurdi Water Supply Scheme, Benue State, etc.

7,200 sanitation facilities

The report further indicated that the FMWR carried out some activities with regard to ensuring access to sanitation services in public places across the country.

“The ministry has successfully built more than 7,200 compartments of sanitation and hygiene facilities in public places across the country, i.e. markets, schools, parks, health centers, communities hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) and hotspots. of anger

“The facilities have been delivered to the beneficiary communities, with approved guidelines for the management of caregivers,” he said.

He said there had been routine monitoring of the water quality of the nation’s open water bodies, ie dams, lakes, rivers, etc., from an average of 293 quarterly points.

“The rehabilitation of the existing eight (Lagos, Gombe, Kano, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Enugu, Minna, Akure) and the construction of four new water quality control laboratories are almost complete (Makurdi,

PortHarcourt, Asaba, Umuahia),” the report said.