Clean Water and Sanitation for All: Study on SDGs 6.1 and 6.2 Targets with State Policies and Interventions in Nigeria ^†

Abstract

Water is a fundamental human need. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were made to end poverty, safeguard our planet and guarantee government assistance across the planet. This paper will dissect targets SDG 6.1 and 6.2 comparable to the state strategy and mediations in Nigeria, looking at the frameworks that have neglected to add to accomplishing a fair admittance to protected and safe drinking water for all, neglecting to address the weaknesses experienced by women and children. The lack of access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in Nigeria has been credited to a huge level of diarrheal and intestinal diseases in the country. The discoveries from this exploration paper show that poor policy making in Nigeria is compounding the difficulties connected with hygiene, water insecurity, wellbeing and security, prompting potential issues like hunger, illness, misgovernance and conflict. To address these issues, Nigeria’s administration needs to execute some key policies that reconsider their water availability to guarantee the implementation of SDGs 6.1 and 6.2.

1. Introduction

Nigeria is Africa’s richest, most populated country with an economy developing fast at 6.3% [1]. As a signatory of the Sustainable Development Goals, Nigeria, like many other states, has been attempting to execute the SDGs on a national level. While Nigeria has gained some headway in the financial terms as of late, its human resources improvement stays weak because of underinvestment and neglect, ranking 152 out of 157 nations in 2018 [1]. It lags in executing development initiatives like water and sanitation and health, education and food security. Nigeria is known to be wealthy in natural resources, yet it requires the improvement of human resources to take advantage of the higher development potential that it has neglected to acknowledge up until now [2,3].

Sustainable Development Goal 6 and its targets are intended to guarantee human development by guaranteeing access to water and sanitation. Accessibility to safe water and sanitation is a strong determinant of a healthy and productive life, as well as environmental sustainability and human advancement [4,5].

Just like the case in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the demand for water in Nigeria far exceeds the supply [6]. Water is generally used for two significant purposes in most rural area in Nigeria: in particular, agriculture and domestic utilization [7]. Among Nigeria’s populace of above 203 million individuals, 71 million do not have clean water, and 130 million do not have essential sanitation [8]. While water supply insufficiency is a broad issue in Nigeria and the demand for it is developing consistently, rural dwellers are the most affected [6]. Only 61% of individuals have access to a safe water supply—just 41% within a 30-min round distance of their home, 31% on the premises—and only 7% have channeled water inside their homes [9].

Nigeria is one of the nations in sub-Sahara Africa whose records on broad access to water supply and sanitation facilities by the citizens remain exceptionally poor [10]. In Nigeria, the lack of access to clean water has gross consequences on financial events and personal hygiene and, thus, puts the health of around 40 million Nigerians in danger [5,11,12]. Nigerian urban communities are laden with the inflexible ascent of vagrant settlements, fully packed homes, the breakdown of garbage removal systems, air and water contamination and insufficient water and sanitation services [10]. With the beginning of the pandemic, WASH has become more essential than any time in recent history. Indeed, even now, an extraordinary larger part of the Nigerian populace relies upon self-effort in meeting their day-to-day water and sanitation needs [10]. This prompts the question, Will Nigeria be ready to carry out SDG targets 6.1 and 6.2 by 2030?

This paper expects to examine and take a gander at the target and objectives set by the United Nations for SDG 6.1 and 6.2 and their effective implementation on Nigerian soil. The subject is examined in a few sections. Following the introduction section, the paper will discuss targets 6.1 and 6.2 and their association with different features of human development. The paper will likewise go over how intently the SDGs are interlinked and how the completion of one SDG or target could help in completing the other. The following section will investigate the progress made by government and international organizations on the water policy in Nigeria. The final section will talk about the major challenges and institutional issues confronting policy reforms and implementation in the water and sanitation sector, followed by the conclusions.

2. Clean Water and Sanitation for All and the Sustainable Development Goals

2.1. Target 6.1

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

(Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, 2015)

The Sustainable Development Goals have been designed to counter and take care of a sustainable and impartial future for all. Alongside the acknowledgment of fundamental human freedoms, achieving fairness in water and sanitation administration is the principal focus of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 [13]. Target 6.1 of SDG 6 resolves a vital issue. The issue is the fair accessibility of water. There is a strong emphasis on the principle of “fairness of access”, which indicates an approaching issue that should be promptly addressed: the imbalance of access [13]. The rural communities of Nigeria, similar to others in different regions of the world, merit a society where water is accessible in a satisfactory amount and quality for the present and posterity, accomplishing sustainable development [9]. It is incontestable that having access to perfect and safe water, as well as adequate sanitation and sensitization of proper hygiene, could lessen the sickness and mortality brought about by preventable infections and can prompt better health, diminish poverty and increase welfare [3].

Any explanation of a rural water policy should consider that the economic challenge differs from the urban water supply regarding scale, demand, organizations and funds [14]. Water is the associating string that interfaces with varying backgrounds. The effects of the risk and expenses of contaminated water on life and efficiency show the essential role water plays in all societies that try to thrive [14]. Its availability and accessibility influence various parts of society and are fundamental to advancement. It is additionally critical for political stability. The inequality and inaccessibility of water can possibly instigate clashes, hunger, insecurity and violence; hamper economic development and poverty reduction endeavors and create a divided society [13,15].

2.2. Universal Access to Water and Zero Hunger

Target 2.2

By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving by 2025 the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons.

(Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, 2015)

Water and nutrition are connected in so many ways; yet, not many of these interlinkages have been well-comprehended [16]. Water is fundamental for a balanced diet and proper development, and subsequently, clean water accessibility is important to battle hunger and malnutrition. SDG 6 and, thus, target 6.1 are associated with SDG 2. In bringing an end to hunger and malnutrition, safe drinking water is required (SDG 6.1) [17]. Target 2.2 states to end all types of malnourishments, including accomplishing by 2025 the globally concurred targets on stunting and wasting in children below 5 years of age, and address the nutritional necessities of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older people by 2030 [18].

The pathways from water to nutrition incorporate the arrangement of safe water for drinking and other domestic purposes; water for industrial uses and water of standard quality for irrigation, fisheries and crop production, as well as for farming processing [17]. It has previously been laid out how water is associated with each part of life. Target 6.1 is intensely associated with accomplishing this objective. There are key water–nutrition linkages reflected in SDG 2 (end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) and SDG 6 (ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) [16].

For Nigerian’s, water is associated with a main part of their lives, agriculture and home use. The accessibility of safe and cheap drinking water is necessary to extirpate malnutrition and hunger. Water that is polluted by synthetic compounds or cannot be transported to various networks or is costly to afford can cause dehydration and stunted growth. This absence of access can likewise cause medical problems by harming the healthful necessities of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older people. This has a trickledown impact that influences the present, as well as the future fate, of society.

Figure 1 makes sense of the connection between water accessibility and food security and zero hunger. Expanding urbanization, industrialization and population increase, and the resulting expansion in water interest, fundamentally contend with the agrarian water demand [17]. This influences the water accessibility in rural regions. In 2012, the Global Hunger Index positioned Nigeria 40th out of 79 countries, while the 2011 UNDP Human Development Index put Nigeria 156th out of 187 nations [19]. Rural people are, in this manner, compelled to depend on groundwater supplies, prompting leading to various medical problems, for example, cholera, stunting and wasting in children below five. The absence of water additionally influences cultivating and agriculture, causing food insecurity. A terrible harvest season could cause less income from the market, which, in turn, could cause less buying power. Families are consequently food insecure, proportioning their profit and their food.

2.3. Universal Access to Water through Infrastructure

Target 9.1

Develop a quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.

(Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, 2015)

Target 6.1 and Target 9.1 are inherently associated. To guarantee safe and affordable access to water, fabricating the essential infrastructure is significant. Basically, the framework offers fundamental types of assistance to individuals, such as water and energy, and defends them from dangers, for example, floods or the microorganisms in sewage [20]. Infrastructure, for example, pipes, wells and dams, are fundamental in giving widespread and fair access to clean and affordable drinking water for all, from the thickly populated metropolitan areas to the scantily located rural regions.

The water framework sector has the biggest direct impact on people, from wastewater and sanitation administrations and infrastructure frameworks to safeguard against flooding, as well as the water supply [20]. A practical framework can give pathways and be in-route to a more noteworthy and more profound availability all throughout the community. With a strong infrastructure plan, it becomes simpler to guarantee the all-inclusive and impartial access to clean and affordable drinking water for all. Consequently, there is a synergistic instrument to convey information between infrastructure systems and the SDGs, with a framework-empowering conveyance of SDG 6, while the targets give a system directing and compelling the arrangement of the infrastructure so it is practical [20]. All of this adds to the supply of water to both urban and rural regions.

3. Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, Gender and the Sustainable Development Goals

3.1. Target 6.2

By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.

(Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, 2015)

Target 6.2 calls for water and sanitation for all and perceives that safe sanitation practice structure a critical component of future social development and economic progress [21]. Great hygiene practices, for example, handwashing with cleanser and water after making use of the restroom and prior to preparing and eating food s, are fundamental for restricting the spread of communicable diseases [22]. In any case, there are many motivations behind why good cleanliness practices are not carried out in the developing world. The causes range from the absence of hand washing amenities to abject poverty to the absence of knowledge and information.

Practices, for example, open excretion, are normal in Nigeria. The absence of knowledge on the dangers of open excretion was observed as a reason for the commonness of open excretion in Nigeria [23]. Open excretion prompts a flare-up of diseases that the public authority needs to contain to forestall the loss of lives [23]. The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) Nigeria [24] detailed that, because of poor sanitation, NGN 455 billion is lost every year by the Nigerian government [23,24].

It very well may be contended that, in the case of disease outbreak, the economy will probably be disabled, as the Nigerian government would spend more funds containing an outbreak of disease as opposed to utilizing it to work on improving the standard of life of its general population [23]. This is a significant health and gender concern. Practices such as these excessively affect women, girls and children. Children face outrageous health concerns, for example, stunted growth, cholera and diarrhea, through contaminated food and water [23]. Women and girls face security issues as they risk getting assaulted or attacked each time they go out to defecate in an exposed place [23]. It is likewise very unhygienic for ladies to be in these situations and taking a chance with innumerable infections and reproductive issues. The accessibility of clean water and sanitation is important to stay away from illnesses, unexpected health problems and security issues.

3.2. Access to Safe and Affordable Drinking Water and Fighting Waterborne Diseases

Target 3.3

By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.

(Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, 2015)

Target 6.2 connects with Target 3.3, battling communicable diseases, “By 2030, end the epidemic of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases” [22]. Around the world, nearly 6.3% of the mortality recorded were from unsafe drinking water, sanitation facilities and cleanliness practices [5,25].

The accessible sanitation information in the study area uncovered that open-pit latrines are the most prevalent, accounting for 23.0%, while simple pit latrines are the least 3.3% [5]. This is not just unhygienic but also hazardous. It is estimated that around 122,000 Nigerians, including 87,000 young children under 5 years, die yearly because of diarrhea [5]. The accessibility to safe and affordable drinking water and quality sanitation nullifies the possibilities of being diagnosed to have a waterborne illness.

Hands can easily be polluted with feces, directly or indirectly of oneself or of another [26]. In many parts of the rural settlements in Southwest Nigeria, the issue of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is made worse by the small number of occupants with access to safe water and sanitation [5]. The methodical reviews done from 1997 to 2010 showed that hand washing with a cleanser or soap diminished diarrhea by either 32% or 48% [26]. Washing hands is the most ideal way to forestall sickness yet on the off chance that there isn’t any water accessible, how should one forestall the illness?

Indeed, even by most modest approximations, Nigeria is as yet recording under half accessibility to safe water and hygienic method for feces disposal [6]. Tainting of the hands during exercises like excreting and changing/washing of a child’s bottom aids in the transmission of diseases [26]. Without hand washing amenities, both the mother and the kid are continually at risk for a disease.

A handwashing and good cleanliness routine avails the benefit of water and sanitation services [27]. The majority of individuals in the rural areas of the developing countries cannot afford to purchase soaps or cleansers for hand washing [26]. The Coronavirus pandemic has recently emphasized this position with specialists over and over underlining the significance of washing hands. The absence of access to clean water influences the susceptibility to sickness and infirmity [27]. While there is no substantial information and the world is as yet attempting to comprehend the virus, water is vital to moderating it.

A decrease in the rate of waterborne sickness and water-related illnesses in rural regions is supposed to reflect a lower patronage of health facilities and lower spending on medications [6]. Having a health infrastructure that is continually troubled by issues that can be moderated through improvement leads to a lack of funds. The reserve funds made through lower spending on medications and clinic patronage can consequently be directed toward other productive endeavors as a significant condition for expanded production and advancement in Nigeria [6].

3.3. Women and Girls and Their Right to Gender Equality and Water Accessibility

Target 5.4

Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.

(Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, 2015)

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are profoundly significant for women’s and girls’ empowerment, affecting their education, health, income and safety [28]. Target 6.2 recognizes the necessities of women and girls and their right to gender equality. Target 5.4 “Recognizes and esteems neglected care and domestic work through the arrangement of public services, framework and social security approaches and the advancement of shared roles inside the family and the family as broadly suitable [22]”. Today, more than two billion people lack access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation services, and a considerable lot of them are women [28].

Target 6.2 is centered around tending to sanitation and hygiene issues for girls/women. Not having to walk a long distance to get water or care for ill family individuals saves women’s time, and not having to use a common sanitary facility with different families further develops women’s security [22]. In many developing nations, women and children are frequently delegated the responsibility to find and bring water from the source to their homes. Nigeria is no exception. Imbalances in access to water, sanitation and hygiene services have been estimated among rural and urban regions and across country abundance quintiles, as well as by sex [29].

The gender division of roles pushes the duty regarding WASH-related administration onto women and girls [30]. The distance to a water source builds up the time expected for income-producing exercises, family tasks and childcare [5,31]. A young girl is given the duty of providing water for the home while the mother centers around the coordination, including the sanitation and hygiene of the home [30]. Presently, as a feature of SDG evaluation, markers are gathered on access to water on the premises (SDG 6) and the extent of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work by sex and age (SDG 5) [29].

Women’s water, sanitation and hygiene needs during their monthly cycle, pregnancy and providing care have consequences for their general wellbeing, education and psychosocial stress [29]. Women should change their sanitary products every now and again, and for those that use reusable products, there is a need for soap, clean water and a good drying space for the reusable towels [26]. Ladies frequently go in groups to the water source to avoid being molested on the way. The absence of private toilets urges women to opt for open defecation, which makes them easy prey to sexual attack and assault, turning into a security concern [30]. Women are unprotected even when they are carrying out the most fundamental of assignments.

Target 6.2 seeks to diminish the differences between genders by bringing to light the difficulties experienced by women in getting water and sanitation. Women are not paid for the responsibilities they carry out in the family, as society thinks of it as their obligation. Numerous young ladies have needed to exit school as they need to get water for their families or need to take part in domestic activities. This gender lopsidedness and absence of chances has created imbalances among communities, and it very well may be tended to and tackled by implementing target 6.2. Better sanitation services and access to water would empower ladies to have time and resources once again to seek after their education, better wellbeing and earn a decent living.

4. Nigeria’s Progress towards Implementing SDG 6.1 and 6.2

4.1. WASH Policies in Nigeria

Access to WASH is exceptionally important for invigorating and guaranteeing economic growth and supporting life and the environment. With the validation of the SDGs, the new aggressive worldwide targets set for sustainable development have been embraced by the Government of Nigeria. In 2015, there were around 60 million individuals without water for their essential use [31]. For sanitation, just 33% of the whole populace had essential sanitation [31]. In November 2018, the leader of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, declared a state of emergency situation in Nigeria’s WASH sector and flagged off the National Action Plan (NAP) to restore Nigeria’s WASH sector. The principal objective of NAP is to guarantee that sustainable and safely managed WASH services are available to all Nigerians by 2030, consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for water (Goal 6.1) and sanitation (Goal 6.2), [9]. The NAP has created a significant open door for Nigeria and is a form of acknowledgment by the Federal Government that the water, sanitation and hygiene sector need earnest consideration, and that an inability to answer the momentum circumstance will have extreme consequences for the country.

4.2. Government

In September 2000, 189 nations from across the world, including Nigeria, embraced the United Nations Millennium Declaration for New York, which prompted the reception of the eight-time bound MDGs and their monitorable markers. The execution of the MDGs in Nigeria started when the Federal Government promising to use the reserve funds from the Paris Club Debt Relief Deal in 2005 for projects and activities designated to help poor people. Various strategies, projects and programs have since been implemented because of reserve funds from the external debt relief, with a direct impact on the MDGs. The federal government regulates water resources; the state government has the essential obligation regarding the urban water supply, and the local government, along with communities, are answerable for the rural water supply [31].

Nigeria has gained critical headway in working on families’ access to safe drinking water with an end-point status in 2015 at 67.0% access. The nation is likewise considered to have excelled in this indicator from the statistics of the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) showing a recorded end-point status of 69% in 2015 [15]. This contrasts well with the standard figure of 40% in 1990. Notwithstanding, there are wide variations with access to safe drinking water across states, with those in the South having higher access than those in the North. The achievement made in the supply of safe drinking water has, how-ever, not been seen with regards to the extent of the populace utilizing improved sanitation facilities. The end-point status of just 41% using improved sanitation facilities in 2014 is not encouraging, and as a matter of fact, proposes slow progress in this marker. The JMP report is surprisingly more dreadful here, as it recorded 29% for this pointer in 2015.

4.3. International Organizations

Numerous International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) have offered help to the Nigerian government to achieve an expansion in the investment and an improvement in the WASH service to most Nigerians by 2030. The World Bank, the African Development Bank and the French Development Bank have upheld the Nigerian water and sanitation sector for a very long while. As per a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) report, these international donors have supported in the form of more than USD 2 billion of concessional credits to Nigeria beginning around 1979 [32]. Their help has been coordinated for the most part with the development and recovery of a water infrastructure at the state level. Other organizations, for example, UNICEF, have given direct help to 100 LGAs across 21 states. Essentially, WaterAid has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government of Nigeria, pointed toward offering technical support, capacity development and policy and strategy development [33]. USAID, on the other hand, is supporting Nigeria to further develop health results through the supply of sustainable WASH services by improving the urban water service conveyance through reinforcing the administration, monetary and technical viability of some State Water Boards (SWBs) [32].

5. Challenges towards Achieving WASH

5.1. Poverty

Poverty involves more than the absence of monetary and useful assets to guarantee a sustainable livelihood, and its signs incorporate hunger and malnutrition, restricted access to education and other fundamental services, social discrimination and avoidance, as well as the absence of participation in decision-making [34]. It has been accounted for that the sluggish advancement in sanitation might be as a result of the “urbanization of poverty”, as poverty is increasing in urban areas [35]. Relocation to urban regions, bringing about a thick cluster of poverty, represents a test for sanitation frameworks that were not initially designed to serve many such families, assuming that they existed by any means. Due to poverty, communities find it hard to use the only accessible soap at a household for hand washing [26,36]. Likewise, hand washing facilities utilized subsequent to visiting a toilet are typically not long-lasting, as they are produced from materials that are not solid [26]. There are three primary obstructions to the progress of urban services in ghetto areas: Firstly, lacking supply, particularly of arranged services. Furthermore, there are generally request requirements that prevent individuals’ access to these services (for instance, because of a low ability to pay). Thirdly, there are institutional limitations that keep the poor from gaining sufficient urban services [37].

5.2. Lack of Infrastructure

National government planning and evaluation endeavors, as well as post-project monitoring by NGOs or scientists, have highlighted the failure of water supply systems (including water points, wells and boreholes) and sanitation systems as significant difficulties. The technical difficulties (e.g., poor provincial preparation and logistics issues) to give fundamental water and sanitation services to discriminated populaces are dialing back on the off-chance of not forestalling by and large the comprehensive water and sanitation improvement endeavors [13].

Many water and sanitation systems are unsustainable, neglecting the health needs of communities over the long haul. This has been credited to monetary expenses, deficient technical training for tasks and maintenance, bad utilization of new facilities and an absence of local investment and proprietorship [38]. Access to WASH services likewise differs within countries as regards to the socioeconomic status, political power and level of urbanization. A 2004 report by UNICEF expressed that urban households are 30% and 135% bound to have further developed water sources and sanitation, respectively, as contrasted with rural regions. New megacities in the developing world have exponential population growth and are unable to keep pace with the population growth in term of the needed infrastructure [39].

5.3. Misgovernance

Good water management is a fundamental point of support for executing SDG 6. However, administrative structures will generally be powerless and divided into numerous nations, including Nigeria. Good water management gives the political, institutional and managerial standards, practices and procedures for decision-making and executing them. Governments have responsibility for many governance functions, for example, formulating policy, creating legal systems, planning, coordination, funding and supporting, capacity improvement, data acquisition and monitoring and regulation.

Be that as it may, water governance is progressively moving past the government to different partners, including the private sector. Good water governance contains numerous components; however, it chiefly incorporates viable, responsive and accountable state institutions that respond to change; receptiveness and straightforwardness furnishing partners with data and giving citizens and communities a say in decision-making. Cooperation and multi-partner commitment are significant pieces of policy processes, despite the fact that estimating their adequacy is still in its earliest stages. The significance of having a transparent, universal and impartial stage for government and citizen groups set up to prepare accessible water resources and look for a better method for guaranteeing further developed water services was shown to be fundamental and correlative to the local government support. The significance of the capacity turns into a vital component in how a policy is made and implemented [40].

5.4. Lack of Proper Data

Data support the administration components of accountability, transparency and participation. They make it possible for progress to be observed and service providers, governments and development partners to be considered answerable. Many nations, including Nigeria, come up short on monetary, institutional and human resources to ascertain the information to help water governance. Less than 50% of the UN member states have similar data accessible on the progress towards meeting each of the SDG 6 targets. Stakeholders have no business testing the authenticity of inaccurate or one-sided positions without accessible data. Dependable, consistent and, whenever the situation allows, disaggregated information is fundamental to animate political responsibility, illuminate policymaking and independent direction and trigger all-around investments towards health, environment and economic additions. Progress is being made to harmonize data and reporting; yet, the primary and procedural issues rise out of the national level in policy, planning, finance and management, which give a few reasons with respect as to why rural water has not been generally viewed as an organized system of rural water points [14].

Information securing and evaluations require a political obligation of transparency that incorporates the endeavors connected with availability and the sharing of information. Expanded usage of the most recent Earth observations, citizen science and private sector data ought to be integrated into the data evaluating frameworks at all levels to complete the existing information gathering endeavors [40].

5.5. Climate Change

Environmental change presents an expanded hazard to WASH systems, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where access to securely oversee essential sanitation is low [41]. In many Sub-Saharan Africa nations, including Nigeria, an ineffectively handled WASH system and large rural settlements with restricted access to water and sanitation systems are particularly helpless against severe environmental conditions, for example, flooding [42]. Changes in the recurrence and force of severe environmental conditions could probably affect different WASH factors and water accessibility. For instance, flooding can influence water treatment, water sources and sanitation, while drought might influence water sources, hand hygiene and water storage [43].

6. Conclusions

In conclusion, Nigeria has a lot to do before 2030. The nation has implemented policies, for example, the National Action Plan (NAP), for the rejuvenation of Nigeria’s WASH sector; however, it is, by all accounts, a bit late. There is a notable part of the populace that is as yet attempting to accomplish universal access to water in both urban and rural regions. While there are plans set up to guarantee a fast execution of SDG 6, with the development of the pandemic, it appears to be that there is still a significant step to be taken. A significant framework expected to improve the water availability and sanitation accessibility presently is yet to be made. Recent assessments have shown that only 33% of the complete populace of Nigeria has access to essential sanitation [31]. That is a very unsettling number. Various sanitation projects have become unreasonable because of funds, insufficient technical know-how for tasks and maintenance, the absence of capacity, the inappropriate utilization of new facilities and poor ways of behaving and an absence of community cooperation and proprietorship [38].

Indeed, even before the pandemic, the nation was battling to carry out SDG 6, targets 6.1 and 6.2. It is burdened with difficulties like an absence of funds, poverty, political instability, bad governance and dishonesty. Inadequate provisions of organized services, a thorough approach, constraints that hinders an individuals’ access to these services (for instance, because of a low eagerness to pay) and institutional limitations keep the poor from gaining sufficient urban services [37].

Access to WASH is profoundly vital for invigorating and guaranteeing socioeconomic development and supporting life and the environment of any country. Every one of the sustainable development goals has been intended to supplement and work with the execution of the others by giving a particular structure. As this paper illustrated, WASH is related to the health, development and economic growth of a country. Water is inherently related to the health and prosperity of the country. While Nigeria has absolutely made a few enhancements in further developing its water access and fairness, there is a lot to be finished. It appears to be improbable that the nation will hit targets 6.1 and 6.2 by 2030; however, assuming the government and international organizations make a few unequivocal strides and carry out a local area-centered ground-up strategy, there is hope for development ahead.

7. Recommendations

Here are just some of the recommendations that are made to move Nigeria towards achieving SDG 6.1 and 6.2:

(a)

Governments at all levels need to work with the key stakeholders in WASH to improve the local water governance.

(b)

There is the need to reinforce the capacity of the local and national authorities to manage and control sanitation systems, including the improvement of data management frameworks.

(c)

Rank water efficiency as very important across activities by introducing the best practice technologies for water preservation in regions where the water is insufficient.

(d)

Guarantee that the voices of women and girls, who the most affected by the lack of WASH services, are acknowledged in water and sanitation plans of action.