NAN-AE-6
Wastewater
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, June 8, 2017 (NAN) Global Water Partnership (GWP) Nigeria, has expressed concern over large quantity of wastewater from homes, cities, industries and agricultural activities flowing back to nature without being treated or re-used.
Dr Hassan Bdliya, the Chairman of GWP raised the concern in Abuja on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said that Nigerians needed to understand that “water is a resource that can finish if not properly used in line with the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).”
According to him, reducing, safely treating and re-using wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture promotes food security and wellbeing of workers, farmers and consumers.
He said that the Integrated Water Resources Management emphasised the need to use water taking in consideration sustainability, equity and reduced conflict that might come from poor use of water resources.
The chairman recalled that the history of the management in Nigeria had been bedeviled with several circumstances making the public not to get the best out of the water they use.
Bdliya said that these challenges were caused by poor management, adding that stakeholders developed water resources without following guidelines or principles, instead of solving problems, they ended up creating more.
“There are many examples in Nigeria, we have several dams and many people benefiting from the dams and many people are also crying out that these dams have created more problems than solutions for them.
“What the organisation does is to bring together all the concerned parties so that there will be a participatory approach in handling IWRM issues.
“The concept was arrived at through interactions at the global level and it is now based on a set up of principles of each country which embrace IWRM and how they are supposed to employ the principles in managing water at any level.
“These principles include the need to recognise that water is finite, and it therefore has to be managed in a manner that you recognise that it can finish.
“It also recognises that it has a commercial as well as a social value, it has to be managed in a way that reflects those values.”
The chairman said that all stakeholders needed to recognise that women played a critical role in water resource management, adding that they should not be ignored when such issue was being discussed.
He said that GWP Nigeria had been partnering with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to implement IWRM guidelines to promote water sustainability and nation’s development.
Bdliya said that the group had attracted funding for the implementation of pilot projects that led to food security by working on the inter-face among water, environment and agricultural production.
“We have been able to bring together this family of various players from private, public sector, academia to work as a family with a common goal to promoting improvement in water resources management.”
He said that GWP Nigeria, accredited by the GWP Sweden, had also been working on national dialogues to promote water and food security as this would be better carried out with the implementation of IWRM guidelines.
NAN reports that GWP Nigeria supports the effort of the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, the Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission and other stakeholders. (NAN)
TAK/MOL/GY
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Grace Yussuf