Water is free, but gaining access to it is not. And even when access is established, maintaining access to it comes at its own cost. The journey to ensuring the sustainability of access to clean water goes beyond focusing on providing access and relying on the communities to take ownership of the facilities. But on the system of sustainability put in place to sustain the access.

 

Urban communities in Nigeria often enjoy more formal services compared to rural communities. The rural-urban divide continues to increase amidst increasing poverty. Through their rural water supply agencies (RUWASSA), most state governments in Nigeria support rural communities in maintaining their broken pumps. But this is usually done through a formal process of written letters from the community to RUWASSA and sometimes passed to the State Ministry of Water Resources. The turnaround time can be months or a year when the budget becomes available and approval is provided. 

 

As one will think, when you lose access to clean water for three days, you must have exhausted your backup supply. And the communities retard to poorer sources, re-exposing them to the risks of the contamination of waterborne diseases and associated socio-economic challenges. 

Two of the most deprived states of clean water in Nigeria are Kebbi and Sokoto States, where only 6 out of 10 people have access. And two out of these six people lose access to it in the second year after gaining access.

 

With this finding of the quick loss of access and government maintenance procedure, we supported the establishment of a social enterprise to provide frequent and responsive maintenance services to these communities. This looked like the silver bullet to the maintenance issues. However, communities needed to pay for this maintenance service monthly by contributing funds to a community bank account. Informal means of saving funds do not guarantee the safekeeping and accountability of their funds.

 

As we worked with 31 communities, we realised that many of the members elected by the communities to represent them in maintaining the water service could not be signatories to bank accounts. And even many other unelected community members could not be signatories. They couldn’t because they do not have a formal identity card recognised by the banks. 

 

The National ID card, which is free of charge, is the easiest solution. But even at that, such registration services are not available within a 15km radius of each of these communities. They will have to travel to the state capital, a 30-60km journey for some, at their own cost. Many only go to these capitals once ill and are referred to the general hospital from their local primary healthcare centres.

 

Ensuring the continued provision of the guaranteed service by the social enterprise can only be done if these communities open a savings account to enable them to pool their funds through monthly subscription amounts. The social enterprise promises less than 48-hour downtime. 

 

Faced with these people’s obstacles and poverty, many had to be encouraged to get formally identified and open these bank accounts.

 

As we continue to promote sustainability and the achievement of SDGs in Nigeria, the sustainability of some of these services will come down to formalised institutions set up to provide support. The challenge is now more evident without identity numbers identifying Nigerians and with 70% financially excluded.

 

The individual elements that interact to provide the water services at the onset must play a critical role in either designing the architecture of the maintenance service or being a part of it. 

Written by Sadiq Abubakar GULMA.

 

Water is free, but gaining access to it is not. And even when access is established, maintaining access to it comes at its own cost. The journey to ensuring the sustainability of access to clean water goes beyond focusing on providing access and relying on the communities to take ownership of the facilities. But on the system of sustainability put in place to sustain the access.

 

Urban communities in Nigeria often enjoy more formal services compared to rural communities. The rural-urban divide continues to increase amidst increasing poverty. Through their rural water supply agencies (RUWASSA), most state governments in Nigeria support rural communities in maintaining their broken pumps. But this is usually done through a formal process of written letters from the community to RUWASSA and sometimes passed to the State Ministry of Water Resources. The turnaround time can be months or a year when the budget becomes available and approval is provided. 

 

As one will think, when you lose access to clean water for three days, you must have exhausted your backup supply. And the communities retard to poorer sources, re-exposing them to the risks of the contamination of waterborne diseases and associated socio-economic challenges. 

Two of the most deprived states of clean water in Nigeria are Kebbi and Sokoto States, where only 6 out of 10 people have access. And two out of these six people lose access to it in the second year after gaining access.

 

With this finding of the quick loss of access and government maintenance procedure, we supported the establishment of a social enterprise to provide frequent and responsive maintenance services to these communities. This looked like the silver bullet to the maintenance issues. However, communities needed to pay for this maintenance service monthly by contributing funds to a community bank account. Informal means of saving funds do not guarantee the safekeeping and accountability of their funds.

 

As we worked with 31 communities, we realised that many of the members elected by the communities to represent them in maintaining the water service could not be signatories to bank accounts. And even many other unelected community members could not be signatories. They couldn’t because they do not have a formal identity card recognised by the banks. 

 

The National ID card, which is free of charge, is the easiest solution. But even at that, such registration services are not available within a 15km radius of each of these communities. They will have to travel to the state capital, a 30-60km journey for some, at their own cost. Many only go to these capitals once ill and are referred to the general hospital from their local primary healthcare centres.

 

Ensuring the continued provision of the guaranteed service by the social enterprise can only be done if these communities open a savings account to enable them to pool their funds through monthly subscription amounts. The social enterprise promises less than 48-hour downtime. 

 

Faced with these people’s obstacles and poverty, many had to be encouraged to get formally identified and open these bank accounts.

 

As we continue to promote sustainability and the achievement of SDGs in Nigeria, the sustainability of some of these services will come down to formalised institutions set up to provide support. The challenge is now more evident without identity numbers identifying Nigerians and with 70% financially excluded.

 

The individual elements that interact to provide the water services at the onset must play a critical role in either designing the architecture of the maintenance service or being a part of it. 

Written by Sadiq Abubakar GULMA.

 

Two GHI staff, members of Dangoma Junior Secondary School Environmental Club, WASHCOM members, Patron and Coordinators of the club during the establishment of the club in Kalgo LGA, Kebbi State 01-02-2023

Children have a right to education, which includes access to safe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services. Every child needs a healthy environment to learn, grow, thrive, and achieve their full potential. Even though many schools have WASH infrastructure, there is a low emphasis on hygiene education. There is mounting evidence of school WASH’s health, psychosocial, and by extension, educational benefits. 

Over time, WASH in Schools conversation has changed from what works at the school level to how to reach sustainability at scale. We now understand that sustainability is beyond the building of infrastructure but rather about systemic change at the local level. 

A management structure that engages the school children is needed to achieve this systemic change. This entails the formation of clubs or leveraging existing clubs in the schools to integrate WASH activities to improve hygiene promotion activities within the school and through the schools to the host communities. The clubs are responsible for taking ownership and sustainability of the school WASH projects (hardware facilities and hygiene promotion activities).

Based on this, the Green Habitat Initiative (GHI) established Environmental Health Clubs (EHCs) across the five I-WASH beneficiary schools; Dangoma Junior Secondary School, Sauwa Model Primary School, Tungar Zazzagawa Model Primary School, Dalijan Model Primary School, and Government day Secondary School Kambazza, all in Kebbi State. 

Stakeholders in the Environmental Health Clubs

Various stakeholders were involved in establishing the EHCs, including the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Committee in the host community, the School-Based Management Committee, and LGA WASH Unit.

Nomination of Officials and Club EXCO

The students nominated officials, including the Coordinator (Health Education Teacher) and Patron (School Principal), to guide the club’s operations. Elections were conducted for the club Executives, and the following positions were contested and won. They include the President, Secretary, and Treasurer.

             

                              Election of club executives at Sauwa Model Primary School, Argungu LGA. 31-01-2023

Left-Right: The Secretary (Mabaruka Usman), Treasurer (Ahmad Malami) President (Abubakar Alhaji Tukur) of Government Day Secondary School Environmental Health Club took the oath of office facilitated by the GHI WCS. 02-02-2023

Activities

Members of the newly established EHC Clubs discussed activities to be carried out, which include assembly sensitization, Environmental sensitization, Hygiene promotion campaigns (rallies), Hygiene inspection, Class visitation, Entertainment education, and outreach (community walks).

 

The community leader of Sauwa giving a charge to the members of the Sauwa Model Primary School Environmental Health Club 31-01-2023

World Wetlands Day is a global awareness campaign celebrated every year on 2nd February to highlight the value of wetlands. This day also marks the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty adopted in 1971 and which now has a global membership of 172 countries (Nigeria included), officially known as Contracting Parties.

World Wetlands Day is a global awareness campaign celebrated every year on 2nd February to highlight the importance and state of our Wetlands.

Wetlands

A wetland is simply a land that is covered by water (could be fresh water, salt water, or a mixture of both). A wetland has its own ecosystem and a variety of plants and animals that inhabit it such as alligators, snakes, turtles, and salamanders. A wetland does not only consist of reptiles, as some birds like plovers, grouse, herons, etc are birds found in wetlands around the world.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) described wetlands as transitional areas, sandwiched between permanently flooded deepwater environments and well-drained uplands, where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow water. They include mangroves, marshes (salt, brackish, intermediate, and fresh), swamps, forested wetlands, bogs, wet prairies, prairie potholes, and vernal pools.

Image: A wetland

Image source: Pixabay

Image: A wetland

Image source: Pixabay

Wetlands in Nigeria

Nigeria is a vast nation blessed with numerous natural resources among which are wetlands. Some of the Wetlands in Nigeria include the Imo River, Lake Chad, Ogun-Osun River, Niger Delta, Niger River, Benue River, and Qua Iboec River estuary. They are very important to the ecosystem of the nation and home to many natural resources ranging from plants, and animals to crude oil. Oil spillage has been a major source of concern for the loss of the wetlands ecosystem in Nigeria, and the concern keeps growing as the oil keeps spilling due to oil pipeline vandalism or during extraction.

Image: Oil gushing from oil wellhead

Source: Reuters

Image: Oil spilled on a wetland

Source: The Guardian

Importance of Wetlands

• Habitat

Wetlands house a variety of plants that are very essential to our ecosystem. They are also home to a variety of animals ranging from vertebrates and reptiles to mammals whose existence is solely in wetlands.

• Water quality

Wetlands improve the quality of water in the ecosystem by trapping the runoff water and filtering it through chemical, biological, and physical processes before the water reaches the open water. 

• Flood Control

The process of filtering the runoff water prevents the water from going to the open water directly. It slows down the flow of water that goes into the open waters and thereby prevents its overflow. Additionally, The roots of the plants in a wetland also hold the soil together and make it more resistant to erosion.

• Recreation and Aesthetics

Wetlands are pleasing to the eye and sometimes included in landscape designs. Wetlands are serene natural environments that serve as destination spots for a lot of people for recreation and leisure.

WWD 2023 Theme

The theme for this year’s world wetlands day is Wetlands Restoration. Wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests, and more than 35% of wetlands have been degraded or lost since 1970. Reversing this trend is critical and it will take the collective effort of individuals, the private sector, and governments to restore the wetlands to what they once were.

The major responsibility of protecting the wetlands rests on the government and they can start by spreading awareness on the importance of our wetlands, their current states/conditions, and how we can all join hands to save them. Government can also protect the Wetlands through zoning (zoning developments that could harm the Wetlands away from the Wetlands) and by monitoring the activities that go on, in and around the Wetlands. Individuals and organizations can help the Wetlands by properly disposing of their wastes so these wastes won’t end up in the Wetlands. 

All hands are needed on deck for the wetlands restoration and it starts with you and me. The least we can do is to raise awareness for the saddening conditions of our wetlands and highlight what is at risk if we continue to lose our precious wetlands. Everyone has a responsibility to spread the message beyond  2nd February by amplifying the issues using the hashtags (#GenerationRestoration, #ForWetlands) for our social media posts concerning the wetlands. For more information, you can visit the official website of WWD.

Nigeria’s electricity generation has worsened over the years leaving the majority of the people with no consistent power supply. According to the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, the reasons behind the recent poor power supply are the low hydro capacity during the dry season (due to regional changes in rainfall and water availability) and ongoing maintenance activities at natural-gas power stations. The situation was even worse during the months of April and June when the national power grid experienced multiple system collapse. 

As a result of these recurring electricity problems, Nigerians have resorted to seeking  alternative power supply, with the most preferred options being either diesel/petrol generators or inverters having a secondary solar power source. However,  the high cost of fuel (the current pump prices of petrol and diesel are 165 naira/litre and 700 naira/litre respectively) makes the use of generators burdensome for the majority of people.  Also, running generators contribute to environmental and noise pollution due to the noise and smoke fumes that emanate from them. 

As part of its commitments to contribute to SDG 13, Green Habitat Initiative (GHI) is devising ways to pursue environmentally friendly power sources within its office buildings and decided to assess different energy alternatives in terms of their reliability, cost of running and impact on the environment. We consulted experts that provide expert advisory on three power sources (i.e., Abuja electricity distribution company (AEDC), generator suppliers, and solar panel companies) and carried out an analysis of the options at our disposal. The options were evaluated on the bases of how they can be used concurrently or substituted for one another.  

GHI head office in Abuja was used as a case study. The following electronic appliances are being used in the office building:

1. A 6 1.5 HP Air conditioners (1119W)

2. One refrigerator (100W)

3. Two 45 inchTvs (186W)

4. One water dispenser (550W)

5. Two eco-saving Canon printers (50W)

6. A door activation system (36W)

7. Five laptop computers (50W)

8. Twenty-eight energy saving bulbs (17 watts)

With the cost of 1 KWh being N52.28, GHI pays N100,000 to AEDC every 3 months. This is in addition to installed Solar panel components (300 W Mono Panels, 5KVA Inverter, and 8 200Ah batteries). 

Energy-saving colour printer used at the GHI HQ

The table below presents the comparison among the three power sources based on cost and sustainability.

Comparing the three power sources

Verdict based on expert Advisory

The options are listed below based on their ranking with option 1 being the best option and option 5 the least option to go for when considering the cost of running, reliability and impact on the environment.

Option 1: AEDC as the base load with Backup solar and no generator 

In this case, the AEDC power supply is used as the base load for the office with the inverter being powered by the solar panels and the AEDC power unto eight batteries that run for at least 10 hours when there is power failure. This is the best choice in terms of reliability, cost and impact on the environment. Assuming that the 100,000 quarterly payments will be maintained for AEDC base load with N80,000 capital investment and median capital cost of N2,480,000,  yearly expenditure becomes N2,960,000. There are concerns about intermittency during days of foggy or overcast cloudy weather. The payback period will be 7.4 years approximately.

Option 2: Baseload solar with backup generator and no AEDC

This implies that a solar powered inverter will act as base load with diesel generators to act as back up during periods of intermittency or unforeseen damage to panels, this is the second best option in  terms of cost, reliability and environmental impact. This cumulatively brings the expenditure to approximately 2,828,000 due to lower demands for diesel. This potentially saves GHI AEDC costs and can make the organisation energy independent. However, during periods of intermittency, a backup generator will have to be deployed which has detrimental environmental effects.

Energy-saving bulbs used at GHI HQ

Option 3: Baseload solar with Backup AEDC and no generator

This implies that solar will be used as the base load with AEDC power as backup and no generator. This is an excellent choice for being environmentally friendly and significantly cuts down GHI emissions. However, concerns exist with the reliability because intermittency can occur and AEDC is highly unreliable during such times.

Option 4: Baseload AEDC with back up generator and no solar power

This implies that AEDC will be used as a base load with a backup generator and no solar power. This is the status quo. This assumes a cumulative expenditure of 4,700,000 including diesel costs to run for the whole year. There is also the environmental poor practice of running the generator for hours contributing to noise and air pollution.

Option 5: Baseload generator with back up solar and no AEDC

Here, a diesel powered generator will act as the base load with a solar powered inverter as a backup during periods of low diesel levels or high diesel costs. This cumulatively brings expenditure to about 7,818,000 annually especially during periods of high diesel costs. This scenario is costly, may have an unreliable backup option during periods of cloud cover or rainy weather, and has negative impacts on the environment.

Option 5: Baseload generator with backup AEDC and no solar power

In this case, a diesel powered generator will act as the base load with AEDC as a backup during periods of low supply or very high diesel costs. This cumulatively brings expenditure to about 5,738,000 annually especially during periods of high diesel costs. This scenario is costly, has an unreliable backup option, and has negative impacts on the environment.

Written by Habeebullahi Nurudeen & Abdurrahman Suleiman.

Habeebullahi is a Program Assistant at GHI headquarters, Abuja. He’s passionate about new ideas, fresh starts and learning new things.

Abdurrahman is a Program Officer at GHI.