Environment
THE Nigeria Beverage Panel (NBP) said about 2.2 billion people around the world are living without access to safe water.
It also noted that over 4.4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month in the year.
The body, made the disclosure in a statement signed by its Chairman, Prof. Tunde Oguntona, and made available to Vanguard in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
Prof. Oguntona said, “although Nigeria is not considered to be one of the regions that will experience higher water stress by 2040, access to fresh drinking water is already a very serious challenge in the country”.
He estimated the proportion of Nigerian population that have access to safe drinking water to be between 14 to 30 %.
Speaking on the theme for this year’s celebration, ‘Water for Peace’, Prof. Oguntona emphasized the potential of water, as a leverage in the search for peace.
“The main objective of the celebration was to promote the responsible use of water and advocate access to safe water for everyone.
“There is an urgent need for all stakeholders to take action because access to water is a human right. This is enshrined in several International treaties and Conventions especially the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)6”, he said.
“The first target under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is, ‘by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all”.
“Despite this, there are still estimated 2.2 billion people around the world living without access to safe water. Also UN estimates that over 4.4 billion people (two thirds of world population) experience severe water scarcity for at least one month in the year”.
“The world is not even close to being on track to meet the SDGs by 2030, continued progress on SDG Target 6.1, and the additional acceleration needed to achieve universal access, is threatened by the ever-increasing impacts and uncertainty of climate change, competing agricultural and ecological water needs, competing financial priorities and the challenges of existing and emerging threats to water quality”.
“There is also population pressure. So, World Water Day provides us with unique opportunity not only to focus on the challenges but to take action.”
He charged Nigerians to change they use, exploit, consume and manage water, adding that they should harvest rain water; even if they have other sources of water.
“Recycle waste water as much as possible. Avoid and discourage polluting rivers and streams especially with household wastes”, he said.
A.
-March 24, 2024 @ 16:35 GMT|
Tags: Nigeria Beverage Panel Prof. Tunde Oguntona
