By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi

Objectively speaking, the purpose of this piece is not to merely identify the physical location of the Lagos State Water Corporation. This author, like the generality of Lagosians, is aware that its headquarters are in Water House, Ijora, Lagos, while the corporation’s supervisory ministry, the Lagos state Ministry of Water Resources, is located within the state secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, the state capital.

Beyond these highlights, what essentially necessitated the question Where Is Lagos State Water Corporation? stemmed from the awareness that the Lagos State Water Corporation, a public institution established to provide Lagosians with safe drinking water in sufficient and regular quantity, maintain good quality service through revenue generation to sustain operations, meet customer expectations by planning sustainable growth and promote community health by good portable water, has persistently remained elusive in its delivery to Lagosians of this essential mandate. Further qualifying the development as a crisis is the awareness that this failure and failings on the part of the state government occurs in the face of global recognition of water as a prime necessity of life; that all living animals and plants cease to exist without it.

Historically, the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) has gone through various developmental stages since its inception. It was formerly known as the Federal Water Supply (Under Federal Government), established in 1910 with the construction of Iju Waterworks. The waterworks was commissioned by Mr Lord Luggard, the then Governor General of Lagos, in 1915 at Obun Eko Area of Lagos. The Iju treatment plant has a design capacity of 2.4 million gallons per day (MGD) and was constructed primarily to supply Water to the Colonial residents of Ikoyi in those days. In order to meet the water demand of the ever-increasing population of the state, water facilities such as treatment plants and equipment were installed under the corporation’s continuous expansion schemes.

This led to the construction of Ishasi (1976) and Adiyan Waterworks (1991). The First Executive Governor of Lagos State, Lateef Kayode Jakande, changed the name of the agency to Lagos State Water Management Board (LSWMB) in 1979. The Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC) was formally launched in 1986 by the then Military Administrator of Lagos State, Group Captain Gbolahan Mudashiru.

Later, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the third Executive Governor of Lagos State, rechristened it to the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) in 2004 by virtue of Lagos State Water Sector Law (No. 14).

However, despite these virtues and attributes, it remains by all standards an unpleasant story that years after, calls by residents, good-spirited Nigerians, development professionals and media professionals were made on Lagos state government to address the protracted water scarcity in the state, especially as it prides itself as a mega city, but sadly, it continued to wear the toga of a location where access to formal clean water is abysmally low, with the majority of its residents relying on the informal sector comprised of wells, boreholes, rivers and rainwater. From Ketu to Ikorodu, Ogba Ikeja to Ajah, and Surulere to Alimosho, the story is the same.

Separate from the fact that this dangerous oversight is laced with the capacity to make non-sense of the current effort to better the life chances of Lagosians, if not given the urgency of attention that it deserves, there exist reasons why this development is troubling.

Going by the United Nations declaration, there is sufficient water to satisfy the needs covered by the right to water in virtually all countries of the world – it is much more a question of equitable distribution.

On average, overall household water use accounts for less than 10 per cent of total water use, while industry and agriculture are the largest water users. The right to water is limited to basic personal and domestic needs, which account for only a fraction of overall domestic use. Even in the context of climate change, which affects overall water availability, water for personal and domestic uses can still be ensured if prioritized as required by human rights law.

Aside from the awareness that all every Lagosians needs is 20 litres per capita per day as a minimum quantity required to realise minimum essential levels of the right, making the situation a reality to worry about is that the water scarcity, which started one morning, has suddenly strolled into months. And have exposed residents to daily search for water in sources that their level of hygiene could neither be ascertained nor guaranteed. This is not the only apprehension. The predicament is made worse by the awareness that residents of the area with private boreholes who would have helped ameliorate this suffering are daily frustrated by the poor electricity supply in the area needed to operate the borehole. No thanks to the electricity distribution company operating in the location.

Admittedly, Lagosians know that the government can’t solve all their problems, and they don’t want to either. But they (Lagosians) know that there are things they cannot do on their own but must require government support. A very good example of such responsibilities includes but is not limited to the supply of clean water to the citizenry, electricity and provision of schools in an environment that works.

One fact, going by the global demand that we must not shy away from, is that it is true that investing in water and sanitation is costly. Yet, evidence has shown that the cost of not ensuring access to drinking water and sanitation is even higher in terms of public health and lost work and school days.

For each dollar invested in water and sanitation, on average, there is a return of eight dollars in costs averted and productivity gained.

Also, the human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation are subject to progressive realization. Thus universal coverage does not need to be achieved immediately, but every State must demonstrate that it is taking steps towards this goal to the maximum of its available resources and continually moving in this direction.

Now, let’s cast a glance at the consequences of such failures. First, apart from the fact that Lagos state, with its mega city status, ought to have outgrown a city where residents will, in this 21st century, rely on private water vendors for their daily water needs while those that have no resources to engage these vendors are forced to the derogatory level of scooping water from gutters. And, as we know, contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio. Absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks. Away from health considerations to other consequences that are international/global in outlook.

According to Resolution A/RES/64/292, United Nations General Assembly, July 2010 and General Comment No. 15, UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, November 2002, the Human Right to Water and Sanitation is a principle that acknowledges that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to every person’s life. It was recognised as a human right by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 July 2010. To further add a background, the Resolution calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.

Again, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted General Comment; Article I.1 states that “The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights”. Comment No. 15 also defined the right to water as the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable and physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.

Beginning with sufficiency, the water supply for each person must be sufficient and continuous for personal and domestic uses. These uses ordinarily include drinking, personal sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation, and personal and household hygiene.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), between 50 and 100 litres of water per person per day are needed to ensure that most basic needs are met, and few health concerns arise. On safety, the water required for each personal or domestic use must be safe, therefore, free from microorganisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person’s health.

Talking about acceptability, water should be of acceptable colour, odour and taste for each personal or domestic use. All water facilities and services must be culturally appropriate and sensitive to gender, lifecycle and privacy requirements. Everyone has the right to a water and sanitation service that is physically accessible within or in the immediate vicinity of the household, educational institution, workplace or health institution.

Finally, for the corporation to operate as an effective and efficient state government parastatal that is charged with the responsibility of providing portable and safe water to over 18.0 million people in Lagos State, this piece holds the opinion that the present administration in the state must increase the corporation’s total water production capacity in the state which, going by reports is presently lower than the water demand by Lagosians.

Also, as noted elsewhere, the corporation should develop a renewed effort to solve the problem of water shortage and ensure a steady supply for the growing population of Lagos by implementing the Lagos Water Supply Master plan as a “Road Map”.

Utomi is the programme coordinator (Media and Policy) at the Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos. He can be reached via jeromeutomi@yahoo.com or 09032725374

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