The Federal Government has restated its commitment to the provision of potable water to Nigerians.
Amb. Godknows Igali, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, gave the assurance in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Thursday.
The UN had set aside March 22 as the International Day for Water as a means of focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating for the sustainable management of water resources.
The day was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and was first celebrated on March 22, 1993.
This year’s celebration with the theme “Water and Food Security’’, marks the 20th edition of the event.
The theme chosen by the UN, seeks to further explore the importance of water in agriculture by projecting that inadequate water causes severe crisis across the world.
Igali said that the Federal Government was fully committed to fulfilling its promises on water to the people.
He also pledged his ministry’s commitment in ensuring that all water projects undertaken by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, were promptly delivered.
“On this day to Nigerians is for us to realise that the water we have belongs to all of us, we must use it and mange it in an efficient and sustainable manner.
“Secondly, also to tell Nigerians that there is a commitment on the part of the Federal government to provide water to Nigerians to drink.
“And the staff of the Ministry of Water Resources are fully committed not only at the headquarters, but in all the river basins to ensuring that there is value for the money that government puts into.
“We are also looking into other sources of money for example partnering with the private sector , working more closely with the donor community to ensure that we have more resources coming into the water sector and they are deployed to the most critical areas where there is need.’’
The permanent secretary, who was part of the Nigerian delegation for the World Water Forum held recently in Marseille, France, noted that attention was focused this year on the rural, peri- urban and urban poor areas for the provision of water.
“At the World Water Forum, one of the critical things that came up is the need for African countries and our partners from around the world to develop a new framework for collaboration, a framework that can ensure that the resource flow into various critical sectors is consistent.
“Another thing that came up is the need for us as Africans to share experience among ourselves on how are we coping with climate change; how are we coping with water stress, with the issues of rural urban water dichotomy.
“There was an agreement that we should focus a lot on rural water and the urban poor areas where there is no access to water so we are expecting more funding, more support to come.’’
He said the presentations and retreats at the forum organized by development partners and other international bodies enabled the exchange of ideas which would come to bear in the water sector of the country.
He, therefore, reiterated that with the additional knowledge gained from the forum, the ministry stood a better chance at developing the water sector to improve on the standard of living of Nigerians.