Agency says 70 million Nigerians do not have access to safe water

dimeji akinloye

March 20, 2015 7:01 PM

UNICEF said the poor and vulnerable group bear the greatest brunt of this lack of access to water and sanitation.

___3586995___https:______static.pulse.com.gh___webservice___escenic___binary___3586995___2015___3___20___18___Safe+water_1

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said about 70 million people do not have access to safe water in Nigeria and 110 million lack access to improved sanitation.

The agency said in a statement in Abuja on Friday, March 20, to commemorate this year’s World Water Day, with theme, ‘Water and Sustainable Development.’

According to the agency’s Communications Specialist, Media and External Relations, Geoffrey Njoku, Nigeria is currently not on the path to attaining water and sanitation targets of the Millennium Development Goals.

Njoku said the poor and vulnerable group “bears the greatest brunt of this lack of access to water and sanitation.” He said about 2.3 billion people worldwide have gained access to improved sources of drinking water since 1990.

According to the statement, the agency’s Communications Specialist, Media and External Relations, Geoffrey Njoku, in commemoration of this year’s World Water Day, with the theme, ‘Water and Sustainable Development’, said the poor and vulnerable group “bear the greatest brunt of this lack of access to water and sanitation.”

According to him, about 2.3 billion people worldwide have gained access to improved sources of drinking water since 1990.

“In the case of sanitation, nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide still do not have adequate toilets and among them one billion defecate in the open. With some 70 million people without access to safe water and over 110 million people without access to improved sanitation, Nigeria is currently not on-track with regard to its attainment of Water and Sanitation targets,” Njoku said.

He added; “UNICEF estimates that in Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking to collect water. For children, lack of access to safe water can be tragic. On the average, nearly 1,000 of them die globally every day from diarrhea, linked to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, or poor hygiene.”

dimeji akinloye