POST PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT ON MDGs YOUTH FORUM

Participated in the Post-Presidential Summit on MDGS Youth Forum at World Bank, with support from UNMC, UNICEF, ILO IOM, WorldBank, UNFPA, WATERAID and ACTIONAID

THREAT TO BAN SACHET WATER BY FCT AND SOME STATES IN NIGERIA

There is a continuous threat by some states and the Nigeria central government to ban the use of cellophane bags in packaging water, the well known ‘pure water’ within Nigeria. In as much as the purity and hygienic situation of the water is doubtful, it’s consumption is increasing everyday in Nigeria. The government position on while it is necessary to place a ban on the use of sachet water is traced to the desire of putting an end to street loitering and protecting the environment so as to ensure it sustainability.

The waste found in our surroundings, streets and dumps sites dominated with cellophane bags from sachet water and other related products. This waste aside being wash by rain and blocking the little drainage, it also pollutes the environment. It is difficult to find a term that qualifies this kind of situation in a country that developed policies and laws to up-hold environmental sanitation in the face of international communities. Considering this one will be tempted to justify the government position as noble and welcome initiative that will contributes to ensuring environmental friendliness. In the second school of thought series of questions are purse and requires answers to adequately justifies government position to mention few: ‘what are alternatives provided by the authorities to over-come the impact of banning sachet water on households? Is it the only way to ensure environmental friendliness? Who will bear the consequences of the ban, poor households or rich households? The government decision will be consider noble if the above questions are satisfactorily answered.

Similar situations happened in other countries: in India, Gorai home generate approximately 2.3 million tonnes of garbage in open dumps with an average height of over 26 meters. This garbage was transformed into green areas which help in cleaning the environment and reducing emissions of gasses. In Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia waste is being converted to wealth and not in banning the products that generate the waste. It is much better introducing systems that recycle used materials rather than outright ban on the products. The recycling process can maintain the products, generate employment for the inhabitants and also ensure environmental sustainability.

When right things are planned in a wrong ways, it sends a wrong message and signal that attract criticism from the general public. Government decision on issues should always be tested on the following key areas: Economic benefits, financial benefits, social benefits and the environmental impact. The decision to implement any policy or law should be look beyond only one of the above benefits. What is the economic, social and financial implication of banning a product (sachets water) that has gain public acceptance? The middle and low income earners depends entirely on sachets water even the group of rich people.

The agencies responsible for providing public water supply have fail in their responsibilities of providing portable pipe borne water which led to the development of alternatives and coping strategies by individual to bridged the gap created and a substitute to the desirable which is pipe borne water. It is important to note that ban on sachets water can not stop loitering of the environment as there other products that use same method of packaging. Government should device other means of recycling the waste generated from this product and other products which does not only keep the environment clean and friendly, but also create job for the inhabitants as well as ensuring environmental sustainability.



By
Desmond Chieshe.

Gender, water and climate change

The gendered dimensions of water use and management are fairly well-documented. It has long been noted in the gender and environment literature, for example, that women and girls generally assume primary responsibility for collecting water for drinking, cooking, washing, hygiene and raising small livestock, while men use water for irrigation or livestock farming and for industries (Fisher 2006; Khosla and Pearl 2003). These distinct roles mean that women and men often have different needs and priorities in terms of water use. But while this knowledge isn’t new, it does take on a pressing significance in the context of climate change. It is estimated that by 2025, almost two thirds of the world’s population are likely to experience some kind of water stress, and for one billion of them the shortage will be severe and socially disruptive (WEDO 2003: 61).

Climate change may also lead to increasing frequency and intensity of floods and deteriorating water quality. This is likely to have a particularly harsh effect on women and girls because of their distinct roles in relation to water use and their specific vulnerabilities in the context of disasters. In drought-prone areas affected by desertification, for example, the time absorbed by water collection will increase as women and children (mostly girls) will have to travel greater distances to find water.

The heavy rainfalls and more frequent floods predicted to result from climate change will also increase women’s workloads, as they will have to devote more time to collecting water. This is time that could be spent in school, earning an income or participating in public life. Walking long distances to fetch water exposes women and girls to harassment or sexual assault, especially in areas of conflict; there are many accounts of women and girls being attacked when searching for water and kindling in refugee camps around Darfur (MSF 2005). In urban areas, water collection is also an issue as women and girls spend hours queuing for intermittent water supplies (WEDO 2003).

Nigeria capital city Abuja is not left out of water scarcity equation as the informal settlements within the city are not served or connected by public source of water comparing the residents to depend on streams, ponds and private operators. This sources which are questionable in terms of safety comes with water-borne diseases that has severe consequences on peoples health particularly children, creating more burden of care for women and economic hardship for the families. It is well recognised that poor urban households who are not connected with the public supply of water pay 5 times more than the rich who are connected by buying from private operator of water supply and vendors. The question is what prevents government ministries responsible for water supply from connecting the poor urban households? If the people are paying more than the government set tariff in their present situation would it be a problem in paying less for a safe and clean source if provided for them? What are really the challenges water supply ministries faces in providing safe water for the poor urban households in Abuja?

Challenges of Urban poor to accessing social amenities in FCT

Population increases in the FCT, Abuja have fuelled the growth of overcrowded and insanitary living conditions for many poor people. Much environmental degradation is both caused by overcrowded living conditions, and at the same time is a symptom of the failure of city managers to provide essential services and allocate land for housing development in these areas. The overall challenge has been for policy makers to create the conditions within which poor people can have the space and opportunity to maximise the benefits that urbanisation presents, and to reduce the conditions which impede that process.
Towns and cities are well placed to provide access to a wide range of services at a relatively low cost. This means that poor people should benefit from improved health care, better education opportunities, and a wide range of services and products which support different labour markets. Unfortunately, for many poor urban people, in the FCT, this is not the case. Many are socially excluded on the grounds of cost, discriminatory administrative and legal practices; and through failures of the political process and the efforts of urban managers and social programmes to keep pace with the growth of settlements on the urban fringe where many poor residents live. Many non-recognised slums for instance, even in city centres, are not considered to be part of the city, and therefore receive no civic amenities or legal protection.

In the area of public and private services provision to mitigate the environmentalT effects of the conditions within which they live – accumulations of solid waste, human excrement, polluted water sources, high levels of indoor air pollution, security of tenure and lack of access to housing, the lack of access to basic utilities forces the poor to pay many more times the unit cost of some utilities like water and energy than the rich do. To cite just few communities facing this kind of problems in the FCT are: Lugbe, Karmo, Chika, Karu, Tudun Wada, Gosa, Sauka, Jiwa, Mpape among the numerous communities in the city.

In this context, the challenge is to ensure that poor people are able to participate in and benefit from the process of urban development. In the first instance, the urban poor need somewhere secure and healthy to live and they need to have access to a broad range of essential services. Alongside this, policy makers must support the development of social, political and legal structures which are inclusive and provide opportunities for all people, including the poor and disadvantaged, to obtain the services they want and need, and to participate actively in development and political processes.

In recognition of this huge gap that existed between the rich, poor, leaders and the led and to ensure sustainable human settlement development in Nigeria and beyond a coordinated effort by all stakeholders especially the poor themselves creating a platform where they can discuss and put their issues in to perspectives for action to improve their living condition is now.

Desmond Chieshe
Programme Officer Human Settlement
Women Environmental Programme (WEP)
Abuja, Nigeria

Urban Poor and the challenges of access to Land in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

One major socio-political issue in Nigeria today particularly in the FCT is access to land, whereas access to land is critical to development and fundamental to shelter and other uses like Agriculture. The FCT has attracted a great number of migrants from other parts of the country which has resulted in increased pressure on land and infrastructures creating social and political problems like congestion and poor housing conditions, poor hygiene and health facilities and low level environmental sanitation.

The indigenous people are daily faced with relocation threats in which they lose their ancestral homelands to “development’’ with the little compensation offered brining only a short lived satisfaction. Oftentimes the compensation hardly reaches all persons affected Government in time past established Policies which failed to meet the needs of the poor because they were characterized by lack of adequate capacity, poor planning, high cost land, slow land release process and corruption. Another major setback has been the Land Use Act (LUA) 1978 which nationalizes and vests ownership of land within the territory of each state in the Governor (in the case of FCT the Minister) for the use and common benefits of every Nigerian further heightened insecurity of tenure and access to land. The widening income gaps and escalating land prices and formal land development processes tend to serve only those who can afford, excluding the poor in the formal land market.

The aim of the Land Use Act was to deal with problem of uncontrolled speculations in urban lands, make land easily access to every Nigerian irrespective of gender, unify tenure system in the country ensure equity and justice in land allocation and distribution and amongst others, prevent fragmentation of rural lands arising from the application of the traditional principle of inheritance. In spite of all these effort cost and processes involved in accessing land is deterrent especially for the poor therefore creating way Government and the rich only acquiring land for their use while the poor are alienated.

People can no longer go back home to ancestral land bestowed on them by their forefathers to farm or use for other purposes because Government now has ownership of such land. Of most concern to is the demolition of structures built by the people of informal settlements in the FCT and other part of Nigeria in the name of development or beautification despite policy commitment by Nigerian Government to Housing delivery. Government fails to recognize that informal settlements came about as a result of unequal access to land, housing & economic opportunities thereby inflicting untold hardships on majority of her citizenry.

It is time for all stakeholders to rise up and intensify effort towards providing the enabling environment for poor peoples’ access to land and security tenure.
It is our collective responsibility to make cities work for the poor and the formal land delivery systems are increasingly alienating the poor from seeking access to land and as such what can we do to remove all the impediments in the current systems of land supply?

Desmond Chieshe
Abuja, Nigeria