National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said lack of access to clean water impacts on the well-being and human rights of citizens negatively.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu, who stated this during a stakeholders webinar meeting on access to clean water and sanitation, organized by the Commission, Wednesday in Abuja, said no responsible government can afford to play politics with such essential commodity.
“Our engagement today is to start the process of continuous creation of awareness about the citizens’ right to clean water and sanitation,” he said.
“We are all aware there is a nexus between clean water and sanitation. The lack of clean water and sanitation impacts on the wellness and wellbeing of citizens. This situation needs to be urgently addressed especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which necessitates good practices relating to the use of clean water sanitation and general hygiene,” he noted.
Head, monitoring department of the Commission, Mr. Benedict Agu in response reiterated the need to continue to involve community gate keepers; traditional rulers, religious leaders, CSOs, LGAs, concerned MDAs and international development partners in the creation of awareness for improved (WASH) policies, guidelines and strategies in order to mainstream human rights norms and tenets into Nigeria’s water resource and sanitation management.
In his presentation, Dr. Bala Yusuf Yunusa of the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stated that Nigerian government has demonstrated strong commitment towards the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals, pointing out that institutional frameworks have been established at the national and sub-national levels to support effective implementation of the SDGs.
