Menu

Ahead of the World Water Day, marked on March 22nd, the Lagos State Government announced on Tuesday that it had ordered the closure of more than a 100 table water factories in the state for producing and distributing substandard drinking water. Kabir Abdullahi, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission, made the disclosure at an event to observe the World Water Day.

“We have prosecuted about 16 of them this year. The offenders got various fines and sentences. We have inspected over 800 firms to ensure that the water produced in the state is safe for consumption,” Abdullahi said.

Adeniyi Abdul, Coordinator of the Lagos State Wastewater Management, said about 200 houses in the state have been issued warnings for indiscriminately discharging sewage and wastewater into undesignated channels – a practise that can spread water-related diseases and contaminate the environment. If they refuse to comply, the Coordinator said they would be prosecuted.  

The Executive Secretary said years of lack of monitoring exposed the state’s drinkable water sector to unscrupulous practises. Going forward, he assured that the sector would be given the needed attention to boost safety levels for Lagos residents.

A March 2017 report titled ‘Bottled Water in Nigeria’ released by UK-based Euromonitor International, an independent provider of strategic market research, shows that, off-trade volume sales – drinks sales by independent retailers – of bottled water in Nigeria increased by 7% in 2016. Sales reached a total of 28.9 billion litres, at a value of N938.6 billion.

The theme of the World Water Day 2017 is ‘Water and Wastewater.’ The World Health Organisation and other stakeholders aim to promote safe treatment and reuse of wastewater. The World Water Council (WWC), an international organisation that advocates better water management across the world, said about 319 million people in Sub-Saharan Africans (or 32% of the population) have no access to portable water.

The organisation has called on all governments to focus attention on funding projects that make safe water available to all. It also urges local and regional governments to strive for the attainment of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 which seeks for delivery of safe water and sanitation globally by 2030.