Nigeria

Nigeria, the largest country in West Africa and the most populous on the continent, has a culturally and ethnically diverse population made up of over 250 groups speaking 400 different languages.

Nigeria is made up of one federal capital territory and 36 states; among which there are marked religious differences. Those in the north are predominantly Muslim, with 12 run under Sharia law, while the southern states are mainly Christian. 10% of people have indigenous beliefs.

After being under military rule for many years fragile democracy was reintroduced in 1999. Now, despite tensions and violence between the ethnic and religious groups, the possibilities for development have improved and the Government is also committed to eliminating corruption, which is widespread. However, despite having vast natural resources, including oil, gold and diamonds, the majority of the population live in extreme poverty.

WaterAid has developed a vulnerability ranking system to ensure resources are fairly allocated.

Credit: WaterAid / Jim Holmes

WaterAid in Nigeria

WaterAid began work in Nigeria in 1995 to assist with the vast water and sanitation needs found there. Currently, only half of the population have access to safe water and fewer are reported to have access to sanitation. With a population of 139.8 million this means huge numbers are without these essential services.

The cost in lost productivity, through both poor health and the time spent collecting water, which is commonly five hours a day in the dry season, is high.

Following its first project in Etche, WaterAid moved to Benue State in 1996 to manage the UK Department for International Development's (DFID) Water and Sanitation Project in Oju Local Government Area. In 1999 WaterAid expanded its activities to Plateau and Bauchi states, based on the high levels of poverty and low access to water and sanitation there. In these two states WaterAid works in partnership with five established non governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as state and local governments. In 2004 WaterAid expanded its work to three further states and to more local government areas in Benue State. In the same year a new office was established in the federal state capital of Abuja to ensure WaterAid has a strategic presence in the country.

Since 1995, when it began work in Benue State, WaterAid has been assisting the water and sanitation units (WASUs) of local government councils to deliver water and sanitation services to the poor. Local businesses are contracted to help communities with construction work, such as drilling boreholes, installing handpumps or building latrines and to run 'sani centres' which sell materials for latrine construction.

As well as helping communities establish water supplies and latrines, WaterAid and the WASUs promote good hygiene behavior such as washing hands and keeping latrines clean. A number of innovative approaches are used, including radio jingles, early morning megaphone announcements and school hygiene clubs.

To encourage work between communities and local governments, which in the past have been widely mistrusted and perceived to be corrupt, WaterAid has developed a transparent system for selecting which communities to support and the level of subsidy each household is given. Through the 'vulnerability ranking system' households within communities determine their levels of poverty according to indicators which the community as a whole suggests themselves. By eliminating political interference this is renewing people's faith in working with local governments.  

Children from Umopia village.

Credit: WaterAid / Jim Holmes

By working in different policy environments with different levels of government and a range of partners WaterAid is able to share useful lessons about how to best deliver water and sanitation services to the poor. For example the self-selection process described above has now been imported to other projects funded by DFID and the Nigerian Government. WaterAid is also supporting local governments to produce their local development plans. These not only prioritise work and forthcoming plans, but they also help them to access funding from other donors including UNICEF.

Download the Nigeria country information sheet ( PDF 292K)