1.1 Background to the Study
Water is life: adequate supply of water
is central to life and civilization. The five basic human needs namely
air, water, food, light, and heat. Water is common factor to other four.
It is therefore not an understatement to say water is life, because it
forms an appreciable proportion of all living things including man. In
fact, water is very critical to human life. Water constitutes about 80%
of animal cells. The human body by weight consists of about 70% water
and several body functions depend on water (Human development report
2006).
According to the popular Nigerian
musician Fela Kuti who in his song “water no get enemy” reiterated that
all human activities cling on water and that man will go to any length
to search for water in times of scarcity and this has proven the slogan
“water is life” right. In the third world countries of the world with
Nigeria inclusive, the problem of portable water supply in slum area
(Kpakungu, Niger State) have poised a lot of challenges with task of
collecting water falling largely on women and children and their journey
to collect water is long, tiring and often dangerous, it prevents
millions of mothers from working and lifting their families out of
poverty. It keeps millions of children out school and from playing,
depriving them of the wellbeing and education necessary to become
healthy adults. Where there are clean water sources, inadequate
sanitation threatens them and spreads diseases such as diarrhoea and
cholera. People are forced to walk for water because governments fail to
prioritise water and sanitation for all (The World Walks for Water,
2010).
According to the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) Report 2012, 783 million people, or 11% of the global
population, remain without access to an improved source of drinking
water. Such sources include household connections, public standpipes,
boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater
collections. The world has met the MDGs drinking water target five years
ahead of schedule but work is not yet completely done. Also, there are
regions particularly delayed such as Sub-Saharan Africa where over 40%
of all people without improved drinking water live.
1.2 Problem Statement
Lagos State has witnessed remarkable
expansion, growth and developmental activities such as buildings, road
constructions, deforestation and many other anthropogenic activities. In
this regard lagos state has been facing a lot of problems such as over
population, poor water supply and sanitation, environmental problems of
air and noise pollution, uncollected refuse, flooding due to inadequacy
or absence of drainage facilities in some parts.
1.3 Objective of the study
The major objective of the study is evaluating the problems of water supply in Lagos state.
1.4 Research questions
(1) what is water supply?
(2) what are the sources of water supply in Lagos state?
(3) what are the problems of water supply in Lagos state?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The findings of this research may help
in providing access to adequate potable water supply and a better
sanitation through the use of research and advocacy. It also help to
identify the pattern of access to public water supply and sanitation in
Lagos state. So also to create a database of the existing water source
and their problems and to identify the problems of water and sanitation
in Lagos state.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The research focuses on evaluating the problems of water supply in Lagos State.
References
The World Walks for Water (2011): at www.worldwalksforwater.com (accessed April 30th, 2011).
UNDP Human Development Report (2006):
Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis. Available
at http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/ (accessed on 19th September 2012).
United Nations Global Issues (2012): at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals Accessed September 2012.
B.Adeleye, S.Medayese, O.Okelola.
Problems of water supply and Sanitation in Kpakungu Area of Minna
(Nigeria). Journal of culture, politics and innovation. 2014,2.