By Giwa SHILE
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has raised concerns over privatisation of water infrastructure in the country, calling for sustained advocacy to resist such move.
The Chairman of ERA/FoEN, Dr Nnimmo Bassey at the opening of a National Summit on the Human Right to Water in Abuja said that efforts must be sustained by all to promote universal access to water supported by the UN General Assembly Resolution 64/292.
He said that the resolution stated that the human right to water entitled everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for domestic and personal uses.
“The arguments for privatisation of social services, public entities have basically remained the same since 1970s, the mantra is that public institutions cannot function effectively.
“For some of us who have been around from that time, we can attest that the arguments are fatuous and that the transfer of public utilities from public to private sector is just a means of dispossession of the public to feed the insatiable appetite of the control of capital.
“Water is a human right which should not be subject to the whims of privateers; this is the key message of the Our Water Our Right”.
He cited efforts of the Lagos State Government to privatise water infrastructure as an issue that might further hinder access to potable water, especially for marginalised persons in the country.
Bassey expressed worry that the Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission Bill before the National Assembly might take away the right to access to potable water from the poor to those who can afford it.
He said that there should be more public hearing to open up the space to accommodate more opinions, saying it would allow for more dissenting views to be solved for the overall good of the majority.
“The summit was a critical convergence to share experiences and strategies to defend human right to water.
“This could be achieved with sustained pressure and advocacy, stakeholder collaboration among others.
“We must continue to build grassroots political power to resist the privatisation of water, it is an abuse of the basis of human right,’’ Bassey said.
Mr Mukaila Babarinde, the Head, Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, noted that the role water played in all sectors of human development “cannot be over-emphasised’’.
He said that there was the need for stakeholder collaboration and advocacy to sustain momentum to improve access to potable water, saying that Federal Government could not do it alone.
Babarinde said that efforts of government to improve access to potable water include the completion of abandoned water projects in the country and inauguration of the Partnership for Expanded Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene programme.
He urged state governments to step up efforts to reticulate water from completed dams across the country to help in making water available for the populace.
Ms. Shayda Edwards-Naficy, the Senior Programmes Director, Corporate Accountability, noted that water crisis was a global crisis, saying there was the need for governments to prioritise access to potable water and sanitation facilities.
According to her, there is the need for all civil society groups to fight to promote human right to water.
“We are here to speak with one voice against privatisation and call for strong support for public water systems.
“We believe that the water problems that communities, states face are global in nature; there are struggles around corporations that stand against human rights across the globe, so we need to work together.
“Water needs to be in the hands of people, not corporations, movements around the world are demanding an end to the corporate control of this vital resource; it’s time.”
She said that there was presently a global solidarity to campaign for water justice for all, calling for governments and the World Bank to the heed calls and end the promotion of water for profit.
TBI Africa said the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit with the theme: “Nigeria’s Water Emergency: From Resistance to Real Solutions Against Corporate Control” will release a communiqué at the end of the two-day programme.
