Searching for water

ADEZE OJUKWU

New Jersey, USA

adeze0@yahoo.com

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

"P ure water" has somewhat become an inevitable source of drinking water in several Nigerian cities and communities. Is it safe? The issue of "pure water" safety is better reserved for another discourse. Thirst, along with hunger, is a biological need that must be satisfied. And people are forced to pick and choose from the resources available to them. Do you blame them? No.

Driven by government ineptitude or perhaps inability to provide adequate water supply and other basic necessities of life for its citizens the industry has continued to thrive. Even with the pure water boom, supposedly fraught with a lot of environmental and health risks, water severity remains a harsh reality to citizens.

Only a significant number, among this few, those in the corridors of power, their acolytes and the affluent, can boast of regular water supply. In actual numbers, it can be safely concluded that for a country with 70 percent of its citizens living below acceptable levels of poverty, water is a very scarce and expensive resource.

The issue of the country's water crises is one that cannot be ignored by the authorities because of its enormous impact on the lives and health of individuals and society in general. The social and economic implications seem to be worse for women and children who have the unenviable responsibility of searching for water. From Lagos to Abuja and from Ibadan to Onitsha the scenario is similar. Women and children are often seen roaming the streets and carrying large containers of water back and forth for family use.

Beyond this, the synergy between unsafe water and disease is much too real to ignore or wish away, as it seems in Nigeria today. It is not enough for government to turn a blind eye on this or be satisfied with the fact that pure water is every where and it is cheap and convenient, despite its questionable production processes. Lack of regular water supply often leads to poor sanitary conditions thus providing fertile breeding grounds for diseases as are listed in a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report:

· Anaemia, Arsenicosis, Campylobacteriosis Cholera

· Cyanobacterial Toxins,Dengue and Dengue Haemorrhagic

· Fever, Diarrhoea, Drowning, Fluorosis, Guinea-Worm

· Disease (Dracunculiasis), Hepatitis,Japanese Encephalitis

· Lead Poisoning, Leptospirosis, Malaria, Malnutrition

· Methaemoglobinemia, Onchocerciasis (River Blindness)

· Ringworm, Scabies, Schistosomiasis, Spinal Injury

· Trachoma, Typhoid and Paratyphoid Enteric Fevers.

These along with several water-related disasters and problems will bought to the fore on Monday, March 22 as the global community observes this year's World Water Day (WWD). With the theme �Water and disasters� the event is aimed at providing an opportunity as well as a challenge to all disaster managers.

The purpose of the campaign led by World Meteorological Organization -- Weather, Climate and Water and the UN Interagency Strategy for Disaster Reduction is �to promote decentralized disaster preparedness, regional knowledge sharing and raising public awareness about the issues related to Water-related disasters. It also aims at inspiring worldwide political and community action for preventing and mitigating water-related disasters, and to enhance awareness in order to save lives and property, achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing poverty and building sustainable development.'

A major strategy according to a release by the organizers, is to let each one be informed and be prepared to mitigate the adverse impacts of natural disasters and in particular water-related disasters which have disrupted national economies, severely weaken poor and vulnerable and are now recognized as impediments for sustainable development and reduction of poverty.

The report reiterated the fact that improved water and sanitation reduce child mortality, and better drainage reduces malaria. It also reduces the risk of disaster from floods. To underscore this problem Target 10 of the MDGs is hinged on the need to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Invariably, managing and protecting the environment contribute to reaching the other Millennium Development Goals. Fortunately, good policies and economic growth, which work to improve peoples' lives, can also work to improve the environment.

Without doubt, the UN sing-song should serve as a good reminder to the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led government to its responsibilities to provide regular water supply as well as other amenities that Nigerian citizens desire and deserve. Period