Editorial: Nigeria’s Water and Sanitation Crisis Demands Urgent Reform Amid Widening Gender and Infrastructure Gaps

Explore the depth of Nigeria's WASH crisis. 113 million lack water as gender gaps widen and infrastructure fails. Read the 2026 World Water Day editorial.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 28, 2026, 4:51 AM EDT

Source: The information in this article was sourced from LEADERSHIP

The Intersection of Water Scarcity and Gender Inequality

The 2026 observation of World Water Day, themed "Water and Gender," underscores a critical developmental bottleneck in Nigeria: the disproportionate burden placed on women and girls. According to the United Nations, providing accessible water is a prerequisite for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 and 6. In many Nigerian communities, the hours spent trekking for water directly subtract from educational and economic opportunities for females, who remain largely excluded from the governance and leadership roles necessary to solve the crisis.

A Statistical Divergence: Assessing the Scale of the Deficit

Current data presents a grim reality for Nigeria’s 200 million residents. While the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) suggests 70% of households have basic access, independent polls and research from Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) suggest otherwise. These reports indicate that 113 million Nigerians lack basic drinking water, with only 10% of the population enjoying full WASH services. Furthermore, 83% of the population lacks basic handwashing facilities, a staggering deficit that fuels a continuous cycle of preventable disease.

The Failure of Public Infrastructure and the Rise of Boreholes

The decay of state water boards—some of which, like the Iju Water Works, date back to 1915—has forced a mass migration toward private solutions. Borehole water (39%) has become the primary drinking source for Nigerian families, largely due to the prohibitive cost of sachet water. In the North-East, states like Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe face even deeper deficits as insecurity hampers the restoration of piped infrastructure, leaving internally displaced persons (IDPs) particularly vulnerable to water-borne pathogens.