By YANGE IKYAA
The Nigerian ministry of water resources, in collaboration with stakeholders in the water sector, including the United Nations (UN), on Wednesday commemorated the 2023 World Water Day (WWD) under the theme: “Accelerating Change.”
Speaking at the event in Abuja to mark the designated date of March 22 of every year, which was set aside by the UN for the said purpose, the permanent secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, stated that “the objective of this global event is to galvanize action towards active response to water crisis and seek out innovative measures to improve access to potable water supply.
Represented by the director of monitoring and evaluation in the department of water planning and support services, Mrs. Agnes Aneke, the permanent secretary also said that another goal is to achieve another target which has been set out in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG6)- Water and Sanitation for all by 2030.”
Walson-Jack stressed that “whoever you are, wherever you are, you have the right to water.” She also emphasized that the UN recognizes access to water as a human right, which entitles everyone without discrimination to sufficient, safe, acceptable and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.
This, according to her, includes water for drinking, sanitation, food preparation, personal and household hygiene, among others, adding that “water is the life blood of our world.”
In her own words, “from health and nutrition to education and infrastructure, water is vital to every aspect of human survival and well-being and the economic development and prosperity of every nation.”
Walson-Jack used the occasion to highlight some milestones of the Buhari administration in the water sector to include, among others, the PEWASH programme to boost collaboration/partnership within the three tiers of government, the Clean Nigeria Campaign to End Open Defecation by 2025, the construction of dams for water supply, continuous awareness creation about sanitation and hygiene, as well as the establishment of early warning systems in flood risk areas to reduce exposure to incessant river flooding.
The representatives of the Borehole Drillers Association of Nigeria, UNICEF, Action Against Hunger, and Coca-cola Nigeria Bottling Company were among those who gave goodwill messages at the event.
High points of the occasion included the commissioning of a 12 units of toilets and the renovation of three classroom blocks at Junior Secondary School, Gwarinpa, Abuja. These facilities were all built by Sam Empowerment Organization (SEF).
Deserving tudents were presented with Sanitation Champion Awards to empower them as agents of change within and outside the school, having gone through the orientation programme by the organization.
The occasion was witnessed by some directors of the federal ministry of water resources, representatives of executive directors of the ministry’s agencies, development partners and other eminent personalities.
