NATIONAL GROWTH, WATER DEMAND AND SUPPLY STRATEGIES IN NIGERIA IN THE 1960s.

BY

MR. J. A. HANDIDU

DIRECTOR

HYDROLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOGY,

FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES.

CULLED FROM Journ. Of the

Nigerian Association of Hydrogeologists(NAH)

Vol. 2 No. 1. Oct. 1990.

ABSTRACT.

The exploratory mechanics, designs, planning, execution of projects and management of Nigeria’s water resources are evaluated and described. The importance and implications of efficient water resources handling and management are x-rayed. The extent and uses of surface water resources and potentials for water supplies, agricultural practices, hydropower and navigation are assessed while the unavailability of data on groundwater resources is highlighted. Problems militating against water management include shortage of funds, lack of enough manpower, absence of water law, etc. The strategies for improving water supplies level in the 1960s include enactment of water legislation, completion of ongoing projects establishment of foundries for fabrication of water-based technical parts, raising more funds allocation, quantification of groundwater resources, and developing more water professionals. All Nigerians should improve on the minimal achievements made on the United Nations Water Decade of 1980 – 1989 and then jointly reserve the next decade of 1989 – 1999 to a successful water supply programme to the people.

INTRODUCTION.

Nations, the world over, strive for studious planning, development and management of resources in order to meet the basic needs of people, over time, to live and maintain a life which is decent, healthy and respectable. These needs are in the areas of calorie and protein intake i.e. food in terms of quality and quantity wholesome water for domestic, industrial and other uses. The United Nations has defined the minimum levels of these basic requirements, which express decent, healthy and respectable life. A country’s socio-economic development efforts particularly Nigeria could therefore be assessed against these minimum levels of basic requirements.

Nigeria is one of the largest countries in Africa (1,924,000 sq.km. in area) and the most populous. The population is at present estimated to be at about 100million with an annual growth rate of 3.2%. At this growth rate, the population will be about 140 million in the year 2000 and the present population will be doubled in 21 years (i.e. year 2009). The economy has a comparatively low per capita consumption rate. The inadequate water arising from the temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall (about 4000mm in the southern part to less than 500mm in the North).

The low service level of water account for why water-borne diseases are prevalent sometimes to epidemic scale and food shortages become critical. Within the last fifteen years or thereabout, the government has become partially aware of the significance of water resources development and some attention has been focused on it.

HISTROCIAL, REVIEW OF WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT.

Prior to 1960, water resources development was an exclusive preserve of the private individuals and groups. The government’s major intervention came during the first National Development plan period (1962 – 1968) through the establishment of the River Niger and Lake Chad Basin Commissions. The commissions were then mandated to produce hydrological maps of the country’s water resources, use the map to fashion out a comprehensive development of agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry and navigation (particularly River Niger). This was followed in 1973 and 1974 with the establishment of Sokoto-Rima and Chad Basin Authorities and subsequent increase of the number to eleven River Basin Development Authorities in 1976 to cover the whole country. The River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) were charged with the responsibility of a comprehensive water resources (surface and groundwater) development of Nigeria for multipurpose uses. In 1984, the RBADs were increased to eighteen(18) and redesignated River Basin and Rural Development Authorities (RBRDAs) with similar functions to the RBDAs. With the change of the Military Administration in 1985, the number(18) was scaled down to eleven and retained the name RBDA, and its function limited to purely water resources development. Regretably, however, their impact is still not much felt as we have only about 70,000 hectares of irrigated land developed to date.

Other Agencies were also created both at the Federal and State levels to take charge of specific water resources activities. The Nigeria Dam Authority was created for hydroelectric power generation as Kainji Federal Inland Waterways Division (of the Federal Ministry of Transport) for data collection and development of the Niger and Benue River Systems for water transportation. The Water Boards/Corporations/Utilities were established at regional (and later State) levels to take care of water supply to the people, particularly in the urban and semi-urban areas. In recent times, too, some other Agencies have been established to support existing ones so as to increase water resources development particularly in the rural areas. The Agencies include Directorate of Food, Roads, and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI); Agricultural Development Projects (ADP’s) which have water supply components in their functions; non-governmental organisations (NGOS) like FAO, UNICEF, UNDP, etc.

THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND FUNCTIONS OF WATER FOR NATIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH.

The National Water Policy in Nigeria is the development of the water resources potentials of the country in order to ensure the availability. Equitable distribution and conservation of water for domestic and industrial uses, food production, navigation, hydropower, recreational activities etc. The various demands are met partly from the approximately 224 billion cubic metre of water available annually from run-off of rivers in the eight hydrological zones of the country and partly from the yet to be quantified groundwater resources in aquifers. From this resources, it is estimated that by 1992, about 847 million m³ will be required daily for use. Water for irrigation and fisheries development appears to be the most abundant and crucial of the water uses because of their role in enhancing food crop and fisheries production. Their role in enhancing food crop and fisheries production. Irrigation Development before the advent of the oil boom era when petroleum dominated Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings agriculture was regarded as the mainstay of the country’s economy. During this period, agricultural growth rate was about 2.3%. This rapidly declined to about 1% during the oil boom era when the incentive system was distorted. However, through the government’s new policies and implementation strategies, it is expected that the growth rate will rise to between 4 – 5%. One of the identified strategies is to encourage the development of irrigation infrastructures. This will accelerate our attainment of self-sufficiency in food crop production, raw materials for our industry, generation of additional employment and providing higher income for the rural dwellers. The use of improved technology can make this realizable moreso, that with the traditional farming methods, the yield of cereals is about 0.8-1 tonne/ha while with irrigation, the yield increases to 3-4 cropping advantage per cropping season.

Until the early seventies, irrigation development has been left in the hands of private farmers particularly in the northern zone of the country where traditional farmers use shadouf system of irrigation along river courses. In 1960, about 3,380 ha was reported to be under this type of irrigation. The devastating drought of the early seventies, with its toll on 40 – 60% of the national crops and animal population and its consequent revenue losses, coupled with the emerging pattern of a cycle of drought in the country, brought renewed activities into water resources development. Studies carried out identified more than one million hectares of irrigable land all over the country with estimated annual water requirement of about 24 billion cubic metres.

In spite of the renewed effort, only about 70,000ha has been brought under formal irrigation by all the RBDAs, utilizing less than 100 million m3 as its annual water requirement. Going by the country’s projected high food crop demand at the present level of supply (1,700,000 MT) of rice is expected to rise to 2,610,000 MT by 1989. From the corresponding indicative land area required, the developed irrigation infrastructure is not even enough for the country to be self-sufficient in rice production.

Apart from the large and medium scale irrigation projects highlighted above, there is an awareness on the part of farmers to shift to small-scale irrigation schemes. Thousands of washbores have been drilled to tap shallow groundwater in the Fadama areas along river courses (particularly Rima Valley in Sokoto State). This has been able to bring more land areas under irrigation with reduced investment cost. Potentials exist for the irrigation of additional 1 million hectares of Fadama land, while more attention can be focused on hydropower development.

Hydropower Development.

Only two of the country’s dams at present generate hydro-electric power, namely:-

i) River Niger at Kainji with a life storage capacity of 10,000 Mm3 and inflow of 48,000 Mm³;

ii) River Niger at Jebba with a life storage capacity of 1,100 Mm³ and inflow of 55,000 Mm³.

The two dams generate 5,800 Gwh/year ) or 483 Gwh/mouth (or 483 Gwh/mouth) of hydropower as against the global demand forecast of 21,600 Gwh/year by the year 2003. The years of completion of each scheme can even be made shorter if priority is given to gas turbine installations.

Navigational Development.

The benefit that will accrue from inland river navigation is enormous. The easy access to the sea will facilitate bringing in more goods from the coast to the hinterland at cheaper cost. Less strains will be put on the roads by our trailers and the rate of deterioration of these roads will be reduced. Against this background, the Federal Inland Waterways has, in its 20-year plan proposed to dredge and make available 1,500km. of navigable river channel. These navigable rivers will comprise the Niger and the Benue systems from the International Boarder to the sea and the lower parts of Cross River. Potential for expansion also exist on River Kaduna and River Gurara.

Development of Domestic Water Supply.

In the pre-Independence period, provision of domestic water supply was largely through individual and community efforts. The regional governments later got involved with the main concern of developing schemes to urban and semi-urban areas to the neglect of the rural communities. Water Boards or Corporations were established for this purpose by the regional governments to provide the services. The drought of the early seventies prompted the intervention of the Federal Government to take a number of actions. This resulted in the establishment of some Federal Agencies. These Agencies include the Federal Ministry of Water resources (1976), National Water Resources Institute (1977) and the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs, 1976). While the Ministry has the responsibility to formulate polices and give advice, the Institute is charged with the responsibility of manpower training and research while the RBDAs are executing agencies providing irrigation water, and domestic water supply to the communities.

The tempo of water supply was raised in 1980 with the preparation for and campaign in favour of the United Nation’s International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981 – 1990). The goal of this programme is to provide water for all by the year 1990, 120 litres/day of water (WHO standard) for domestic use. However, just before the commencement of this programme, only 22% of the rural and 55% of urban population enjoyed potable water. These figures have increased only marginally. In absolute terms, by 1986 each rural dweller had access to 25 litres of potable water per day while his urban counterpart had access to 60 litres/day.

CONSTRAINTS TO GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.

Many factors inhibit growth and development in water resources, the major ones are as discussed below.

Lack of Basic Planning Data.

One of the major constraints to water resources development in this country is the lack of basic planning data. The role of data collection has regrettably either been underplayed or ignored. It is therefore always very difficult to assemble reliable and adequate technical and socio-economic data capable of assisting in the assessment, planning, design, construction and maintenance of various development projects. Many projects have failed because of the unreliable and inadequate data on which analysis planning and management are based. The recent failure of some dams such on the Bagauda Dam and Ogumpa Food Disaster and other hydraulic structures are living testimonies. Flow pattern in space and time in rivers have largely been neglected and at best of time sporadic measurements are taken. The same holds true for groundwater. It is for this reason that Nigeria’s neighbours with whom we share common waters or aquifers at the share of the river flow in the case of surface waters. Experiences on the Niger and Benue systems as well as the Lake Chad and Kalmalo Lake waters are still fresh in our memories. All these affect downstream development. Within the borders, the situation is not different either, hence Nigeria experiences persistent drought, flood and erosion without any long term solution.

Flood and Erosion.

The effect of flood has particularly been very devastating in the coastal areas of the country. This has sometimes led to severe erosion and consequent loss of agricultural soils and lands and damage to engineering structures including those for water resources development. Under this circumstance, a lot of sediment is transported which culminates in siltation and clogging up of reservoirs, river channels, etc and reduce their potentials for water storage. With a little more commitment and adequate manpower, the situation can be improved and the water harnessed for more productive activity and economic uses.

Manpower Shortage.

The proper planning, implementation and management of water resources programmes and projects depend principally on the availability of competent personnel. It is common knowledge that in Nigeria, there has been a marked shortage of manpower in water resources particularly at professional and sub-professional levels. This paucity of trained personnel in the middle technical and management levels has been limiting the scale of success of various developments. The professional and sub-professionals are very few in number and some of them inexperienced. The few available ones have been spread too thingly on the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the existing projects. In order to cope with the challenges in the next decade, there is need to step up manpower training.

Funds Shortages and Generation.

The non-availability of funds has always posed a major problem to the development of water resources programmes and projects. Most of the developments in this sector are government-financed. The dwindling of resources at the government disposal has also adversely affected successive allocations of money to water resources projects. The Federal Government allocations have declined, while States Government release only 20 – 30% of their budgeted expenses to water supply. Most projects therefore remain uncompleted and those whose systems have broken down are financially stunted and cannot be easily rehabilitated all over the country.

The uncompleted head works and irrigation infrastructures have reduced and potentials for attaining self-sufficiency in water supplies, food production and consequent losses in revenue. In the case of irrigated agriculture, the 470,000ha of land yet to be completed is capable of producing 2,800 metric tones of rice at two cropping per season. The construction cost of these projects has been a major concern to policy makers. For example, the cost of irrigation development in Nigeria (about US $7,000 per ha or over N50,000) is considered one of the highest in the world. This high cost has largely inhibited rate of irrigation development.

A lot of fund has similarly been invested on the national borehole programme – a programme designed to assist the states in bringing potable water to the rural areas of the country. Despite the huge investment, the programme is yet to be completed. Only 330 of the 851 productive boreholes drilled have been commissioned to date. There has been no sufficient fund to procure the foreign input of pumps, generators and tank materials.

Those projects that are completed that could have been yielding a lot of revenue could not do so because the beneficiaries enjoy a lot of subsidies. Irrigation water, domestic and industrial water supply, electricity consumption carry nominal charges to consumers until of recent when some of the tariff was slightly raised. Irrigation water initially costing between N100-150/ha was only recently raised to N500/ha irrespective of water consumption pattern of crops. Electricity consumption was also slightly raised for domestic consumers but significantly (about 600% in some cases) raised for industrial establishments. Charges on Water supply consumption remain unchanged. The recent rise notwithstanding, the charges are still below the operation and maintenance cost. Revenue which would have accrued to the Agencies concerned, and re-invested in other projects, are lost. Coupled with this, is the inefficient manner in the billing and revenue collection system of the concerned Agencies. Considerable amount of revenue is lost in the process.

Loan assistance to farmers particularly on irrigated agriculture would have increased the level of production. Unfortunately, there is no coherent Institutional Credit facilities to small scale farmers. The existing credit facilities make seemingly impossible demands (collateral, security, title to land, etc.) on farmers. It is only recently that the People’s Bank was established by the Federal Government and the impact of this Bank on farmers is yet to be ascertained.

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING WATER SUPPLY LEVEL IN THE 1990s’

In order to meet the nation’s water demands for increased food crop production through irrigation, and demands for domestic and industrial water supply hydropower generation, navigation, recreation etc. Some of the constraints discussed above need to be removed. Before any meaningful strategy could be adopted, the issue of ownership of water has to be settled through legislation.

ENACTMENT OF WATER LEGISLATION.

The nagging question has always been “who owns the water?” It is the government (Federal, State or Local), its agencies or the individuals who have title to the land that also has the water which flows through or past his land? In addressing this issue, one should take note of the fact that water does not respect any sectional or political boundaries. This issue of water should therefore be tackled as a common problem and looked at on a global basis. Unlike the existing land use Decree, the ownership of water should be vested in the Federal Government. Potential water users can then apply to the Federal Government for licenses to develop the water as a part of the national resource. This measure will ensure a controlled use of water resources – surface water or groundwater.

A draft water resources legislation, along the line discussed above is already being worked upon by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The sooner this legislation is enacted the safer the protection and the surer the development and management of the nation’s water resources.

COMPLETION OF ON-GOING PROJECTS.

A lot of fund has been invested on a number of projects, which are temporarily abandoned for lack of fund. The investment should not be allowed to go down the drain; rather, the projects should be salvaged by completing them. It is only then that the full benefits of these projects can be realized ,example, the on-going irrigation projects is capable of bringing 470,000ha of irrigated land. The revenue to accrue to the economy is considerable and the issue of completing existing projects should be a priority.

PROCUREMENT OF EQUIPMENTS AND SPARE PARTS THROUGH ESTABLISHMENT OF FUNDIES.

In order to facilitate the completion of on-going projects and maintain existing ones, there is the urgent need to procure essential equipments and spare parts. Most of these equipments are imported, apart from the time delay, the foreign exchange for their procurement is very scarce. The establishment of foundries to fabricate some of our materials will be a welcome solution. Already, a laudable step has been taken by the federal department of Water Resources. In a joint effort with DFRRI and Defence Industries Corporation (DIC), Kaduna, the Ruwatsan handpump designed to our taste has been fabricated and will go into full production in due course. The production of similar water resources equipments and spare parts will no doubt speed up the pace of our developments.

Quantification of Groundwater Reserve.

One has been able to have a rough estimate of our surface water (224 billion m3), but the quantity of groundwater remains unknown. There is therefore the need to direct attention on this issue through identification of various aquifer their geometry, other aquifer characteristics and the water availability. When the groundwater reserve is quantified, their judicious exploitation can be planned to meet their multipurpose uses.

Provision of Fund and Trained Manpower.

The demand for water resources is dynamic. Management should not be stagnant hence there is bound to be changes in management. There should therefore be sufficient and adequately trained personnel to cope with the changing demands and technologies. This calls for the need for various resources governments (federal, state and local) to increase their annual allocation to water resources projects. In addition, Institutionalised credit facilities similar to People’s Bank should be established to take care of our small-scale farmers and water related industrialists.

CONCLUSION.

It is a fact of life that no man is an island. While the country’s resources are limited, the people’s demands are infinite. This therefore calls for a pooling of the various resources for the benefit of the people. In the past, there has been noticeable but unavoidable overlaps in the activities of Water Resources Agencies that have never been harnessed. This is a wasteful exercise that should be discouraged. The on-going cooperation of Water Resources Agencies and Institutions in respect of the Operational Hydrological Program (OHP) is a welcome idea that should be extended to other areas to enhance the provision of basic need for the people. Nigerians need good and sufficient food, potable water, uninterrupted water supply of make all systems work, and cheaper transportation link between the coast and hinterland. The common denominator to all these is water. Let all Nigerians therefore jointly reserve the next decade (1989 – 1999) to its common development and proper management. The nation and her people shall be much better for it.

BLIOGRAPHY

Central Bank of Nigeria (1988) – annual Report and Statement of Accounts.

Federal Dept. of Water Resources (1984)

– proceedings of the International Seminar on Water Resources Management Practices, Ilorin, Nigeria.

Federal Dept. of Water Resources (1986)

- National Water Resources Masterplan, Draft Preliminary Plan.

FMAWR & RD (1988) - Agricultural Policy for Nigeria.

FMAWR & RD (1988) - Agricultural Policy for Nigeria. Strategies for Implementation.

Mamman, S. (1989) - Ministerial Press Briefing: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development.

Nasko. M. G. (1989) - Food Self-Sufficiency in Nigeria: A review of Federal Government Programmes.

Okeje, E. O. et al (1989) - Nigeria: Development of Water Resources Towards the Achievement of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade.

*FMAWR & RD - Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development.