Supervision and Management of Water Resources in Rural Wash Services for Sustainability in Nigeria

Abstract

Access to climate resilient safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) remains a recurring challenge in Nigeria. Progress in the sector achieved through the collaborative efforts of Government and Development Partners is often hindering by the growing population. While the Covid-19 pandemic and the national cholera outbreak in 2021 presented an opportunity for investment in water sanitation and hygiene with significant effort on hand hygiene. Their impact on socioeconomic activities has adversely affected gains in the WASH sector. According to the history, the sustainability of WASH projects has long been of concern. As part of its sustainability plan, the small town WASH activity aims at building capacity by training Small Town Water Supply and Sanitation Agencies (STWSSA) and Water Consumer Associations (WCAs) and other service providers on the Private Sector Participation (PSP) concept, non-revenue water, tariff structure, operation & maintenance, financial modelling, and citizens’ engagement with Civil Society Organization (CSOs) to demand for services. STWASH team believes that community ownership is essential to ensure the sustainability of the proposed intervention.  Despite continued large-scale funding by governments and international donor agencies, the sustainability of WASH schemes is laden by numerous problems, including technical failures, management and supervision of contracts as well as financial and management challenges. The objectives of this research is to focus on management and supervision used in WASH for sustainability of safe drinking water and access to sanitation facilities and hygiene to people thus reducing the environmental health risks. Previous literatures review was adopted in the research for results, conclusion and recommendations. Results indicated 179 million of Nigerians do not have access to safely managed drinking water services, 48 million people still defecate in the open space. Therefore, there is need for establishment of genuinely sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services in the country. WASH policy issues addressing sustainability of WASH services must always be given priority. Sustainable Development Goal 6 should goes beyond drinking water, sanitation and hygiene but also address the quality and sustainability of water resources among the agenda.