Nigeria’s Water CrisisTeam Nigeria

Kyle Maki, Nykole Fitzgibbon, Emma Currie, Joshua Cosgrove

Northern Michigan University

HL 322 International Health Issues

Winter 2019

The Issue Globally: Clean Water/Sanitation● 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services.

(WHO/UNICEF 2017)

● 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services. (WHO/UNICEF 2017)

● 340,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases.

(WHO/UNICEF 2015)

● Water scarcity already affects four out of every 10 people. (WHO)

● 90% of all natural disasters are water-related. (UNISDR)

● 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or

reused (UNESCO, 2017).

The Challenge In NigeriaIn Nigeria, 69 million citizens lack access to safe drinking water (Adebowale, 2018). Along with contaminated waters, poor sanitation has contributed to the escalated vulnerability Nigerians have to water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, and polio. Other health costs of contaminated drinking water include malaria, infection, and more frequently - death. The people of Nigeria live in these poorly sanitized environmental conditions. Open defecation is expressed commonly since there is no central sewage system. Many can’t possibly know if the water they’re drinking is harmful. The little water that is potable is more than likely contaminated. Nigeria doesn’t have sanitary facilities or clean water systems. So, how can a country with 215 cubic kilometers reachable surface water (about 51.6 cubic miles) have such issues getting drinkable water?

Other Sustainable Development Goals for Nigeria-

No Poverty- Without clean water, workers and customers must spend time out of their day to acquire it. Clean water will result in healthier and more productive workers. This will lift Nigeria from poverty and result in better living conditions.

Good Jobs & Economic Growth- A healthy, strong workforce will allow Nigeria to grow economically. They will not have to rely on large corporations, which in turn pollute their country, to fund their infrastructure and government.

Good Health- Nigerian's will not contract diseases such as Cholera, Malaria, and Dysentery from dirty water and insanitary conditions. In Africa, 85% of all diseases contracted are caused by a lack of clean drinking water.

Aspects of the Water and Sanitation Problem in Nigeria-

● Cultural Aspect and Ethical issues-○ Cultural aspects include beliefs, values and social norms of people within

Nigeria and how those things affect water and sanitation

○ Sanitation and hygiene situations are worse in the riverine communities than in other parts of the country due to very difficult terrain, especially very shallow water table in the region. Most of the inhabitants defecate in the water which also serves as a source of drinking water and other domestic purposes.

○ Ethics of nigeria have to do with how they enhance well being of others. The two ethical imperatives are 'Do no harm' secondly 'Then do good'

● Economic Aspect-○ How Nigeria's financial issues affect its ability to obtain clean water and

sanitation.

○ The current unemployment rate in Nigeria is 23.1 percent (figure 1). The economic crisis resulted in millions of Nigerians losing their jobs. This

mass unemployment in turn limits tax revenue to the government and further decreases the ability for the government to develop infrastructure such as water treatment plants.

○ Nigeria's economy revolves around oil. They rely on foreign oil companies for revenue. These oil companies exploit Nigeria's natural resources, caring little about the environment/sustainability. In 2008/2009 Royal Dutch Shell's pipeline burst, spilling millions of gallons of oil into the Bodo river and surrounding Niger delta. Due to weather patterns and the connectivity of the Niger delta, this oil was spread long distances and polluted a majority of the rivers. Fishing and agriculture have been heavily affected by this oil. People are unable to fish or grow crops due to the pollution. In order to survive many people turn to illegal oil refinement.

○ The economic crisis has pushed more and more people to illegally refining oil. There is no environmental consideration with these makeshift refineries. They are all set-up near rivers due to the need for water in the refining process. Waste oil is dumped into the rivers. Every night these refineries burn hundreds of gallons of crude oil to heat their refinery ovens.

● Environmental Aspect- ○ Encroachment of the Sahara desert at the northern part of Nigeria. This

leads Nigerians to move to other water sources making for more densely populated inner cities.

○ The country is full of bodies of water that overflow their banks pushing flood waters throughout. Flooding brings sewage and disease contaminated waters all over Nigeria.

○ Oil spills and industrial pollutants settle in and slowly poison Nigerian waters.

● Historical Aspect-

○ Through time, why has clean water and sanitation been unattainable for the majority of a country rich in natural resources?

○ Nigeria has had internal ethnic conflicts and weak government involvement making it hard to form clean water and sanitation systems that are efficient.

○ For decades, flooding has spread across masses of land picking up disease, sewage, and other toxins not fit for humans be in the vicinity of.

● Political Aspect-○ The Nigerian administration is rampant with corruption. Nigeria is

ranked 4th in corruption in the world. The government has no structure or effective plan to increase sanitation in the country or produce clean water.

○ The government is in total shambles. They are unable to raise the necessary funds to build water treatment plants or to construct modern plumbing. The money they do receive is often from foreign donors. However, this money usually doesn't see fruition. Large sums are pocketed before they reach the correct people. Occasionally money is transferred to the right individuals and an effort is made to build these treatment plants and plumbing. However, many of these projects never get completed. This vicious cycle of corruption causes many to lose hope in Nigeria ever reaching an adequate living standard.

● Design Aspect-○ Design aspects include how the international health issue of poor water

and sanitation in Nigeria is portrayed in art and design, and how design is used to create and innovate products or services to better address the problem.

○ Innovative, market-based approaches are accelerating progress toward achieving sustainable sanitation in Nigeria.

Interventions

The Complexity of ItThere is a massive complexity behind solving this water and sanitation issue. It goes beyond humanitarian organizations and countries throwing money at it. Many areas must be addressed before any real progress can be made.

Areas in Need of Addressing-

1. The Nigerian Government2. Foreign Entities in Nigeria3. The Vandalization of Oil Pipelines4. Illegal Oil Refineries5. The Nigerian Police6. Use of Humanitarian Aid

Aid-based interventions: are short-term and designed to provide immediate relief

but not resolve the problem.

Capacity-based interventions: are long-term solutions to the problem, designed to work overtime to eradicate the issue.

1. The Nigerian GovernmentA thorough internal review of the government would eliminate any corrupt government officials. Along with lengthy jail sentences and fines, it would push the government to act in the interest of Nigeria and not their own pockets. Thankfully this is already being enacted in Nigeria and signals a real step towards change.

2. Foreign Entities Acting in Nigeria's Interest

Companies, like Shell, need to act in favor of the people and insure money is being used to benefit the people they are taking the oil/natural resources from. In addition, more precautions need to be in place so an oil spill disaster like Bodo doesn't occur again.

3. The Vandalizing of Oil PipelinesLocals form militias and attack corporation's pipelines in an effort to discourage countries from drilling on their land. To solve this issue the government needs to use its oil profits in the interest of its people. More security along the pipelines would also be effective in the short term. This would lower the amount of vandalizing and thereby lower the amount of oil in the water.

4. Illegal Oil RefineriesThe only effective way to tackle this is to improve the economy of Nigeria to a point where decent jobs are available. This on its own is a massive undertaking and would need large government assistance.

5. The Nigerian PolicePolice need to change their protocol to eliminate dumping and further pollution.

6. Use of Humanitarian AidTo ensure fund are being properly used, every organizations needs to oversee the use of their funds and the affects.

Wow FactorThree things that you can do to help Nigeria-

Idea # 1: Starting a fundraiser to send water purification straws

Idea # 2: Start a water appreciation day on campus

Idea # 3: Sell Decals to raise awareness

Critical Thinking

1) Assessing the quality of information we integrated into our project pagesAs a group we had difficulty researching some topics. In particular finding information on how design is used to present the water and sanitation crisis. Secondly our interventions page caused a few problems. solving the water crisis had so many different areas that have to be addressed. One being government foreign enteritis, vandalization, illegal oil refineries, the police and the use of humanitarian aid. The complexity of the crisis makes it very difficult to find an effective solution to it

2) Integrating our research and insights into understanding the problemBefore looking into Nigeria we as a whole knew very little so attacked it with an open mind and a lot of questions at hand. We became cohesive with all our facts from our reliable sources such as articles, personal experiences, videos and interviews.

3) Evaluating the information, ideas, and activities according to logic, clarity, effectiveness, etc.Upon completion of our project we all collaborated our thoughts to conclude that Nigeria's water and sanitarian was severe and complex. To solve this crisis many areas must be addressed before any real solutions could be made.

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