The Environmental Rights
Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), on Tuesday petitioned President Muhammed
Buhari on the need to
enshrine access to water as a human right in the Nigerian Constitution.
ERA/FoEN also tasked the
president to throw his weight behind demands by civil society and other groups
for democratically-controlled water systems that guarantee universal access to
all Nigerians irrespective of their status.
The petition was also copied to the offices of the
vice-president, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo and the Minister of Water Resources,
Engr. Suleiman Hussein Adamu.
According to ERA/FoEN Head, Media
and Campaigns, Philip Jakpor, the decision to go public with their demands was
because the letter sent to the Presidency a month ago was yet to be
acknowledged.
He said: “We are unrelenting in
our demands that water as a human right is upheld by government at all levels.
“Even as we campaign against
water privatisation in Lagos, we are compelled to demand action at the federal
level in form of a constitutional provision on the human right to water.”
The group said that while the
Buhari administration has taken a right step in the ongoing technical audit of
all projects in the water sector, decades of reliance on donor-funded water
projects have pushed behind the human right to water and projected.
They lamented that instead,
privatisation in all forms including Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) leave
out the larger segment of Nigerians who yearn for unfettered access to portable
and safe water.
The group frowned at the World
Bank and private water industry, accusing them of being behind the growing
proposals for water privatisation or PPP plan in many states, particularly in
Lagos where the Lagos State Water Corporation (LWC), is pushing very hard for
such PPP model that has failed in other parts of the world.
According to the ERA/FoEN, such
failures have been recorded in Manila in the Philippines whereas part-owner of
water corporations that win PPP contracts, the World Bank positioned itself to
profit from this model, as well as Nagpur in India, Paris, Jakarta and Dar Es
Salaam, among others that have experimented with PPPs but had to roll back to
remuncipalisation.
The state of the letter said:
“PPPs do not bring the benefits that are being mouthed by the promoters but
rather it leads to hike in prices, job losses, lower quality, unfulfilled
infrastructure promises and shut offs for those who cannot pay.
“Asides enshrining the human
right to water in the Nigerian constitution, the group recommended that the
administration reject all forms of water privatisation and commodification and
fully uphold the human right to water as an obligation of the government,
representing the people.
“We demand the integration of
broad public participation in developing plans to achieve universal access to
clean water; rejection of contracts designed by, involving, or influenced by
the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
“We also ask that state
governments disclose all discussion and contracts regarding water, including
formal and informal advisory roles with IFC and World Bank.
“We ask the Buhari administration
to build the political will to prioritise water for the people to open the door
to a comprehensive plan that invests in the water infrastructure necessary to
provide universal water access, create jobs, improve public health, and
invigorate the Nigerian economy.”
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