Nigeria is bleeding silently — not through the collapse of oil prices or currency devaluation, but through a problem far more basic, far more human: unsafe water and poor sanitation.
Every year, our economy loses N455 billion to the consequences of contaminated water, poor sanitation, and hygiene failures. Behind this staggering number are millions of weakened bodies, lost school hours, overwhelmed hospitals, and lives cut short unnecessarily. The most heartbreaking figure is that 87,000 Nigerian children under five die annually from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water and sanitation. That is the equivalent of wiping out the entire population of a medium-sized town every year.
This is why we welcome the decision of the federal government and Nestlé Nigeria Plc to mount a nationwide campaign on water quality advocacy. At the Abuja launch, Prof. Joseph Utsev, Honourable Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, rightly reminded Nigerians that without access to safe water, “our progress towards sustainable development remains incomplete.” He is correct. No economy can grow when its people are sick from the very water they drink.
Corporate accountability must match political will. Nestlé’s Victoria Uwadoka put it bluntly: more than 113 million Nigerians still lack access to safe drinking water. That is over half our population — living, working, and schooling with uncertainty over whether the next sip of water could make them ill.
This is not just a health crisis; it is an economic one. Every naira lost to preventable disease is a naira not invested in education, innovation, or infrastructure. Every child bedridden with diarrhoea is a child not learning. Every farmer or trader weakened by waterborne illness is income lost for the household and productivity drained from the national economy.
The challenge, however, is not knowledge. Reports, data, and research abound. The 2021 National Water Report already highlighted the shocking contamination levels of drinking water across Nigeria. What Nigeria needs now is implementation, enforcement, and accountability.
Government must take the lead by: Investing in modern water quality monitoring systems to detect contamination early; strictly enforcing standards on both public utilities and private suppliers; empowering local communities to act as custodians of their own water resources; and linking water investment directly with health and education budgets, because unsafe water affects all three sectors.
But the private sector cannot stand aloof. Nestlé’s advocacy must not be a public relations exercise; it must be a long-term commitment to water stewardship, technology transfer, and genuine partnerships with host communities. Other corporations, especially those in food, beverage, and construction, must also take ownership of this crisis. Safe water is not charity — it is a shared responsibility and good economics.
Nigeria stands at a crossroads. We can continue to treat unsafe water as a background issue — an afterthought to ‘bigger’ challenges — or we can recognize it as the foundation upon which health, productivity, and national growth rests.
The N455 billion lost each year is a bill we cannot keep paying. The lives lost are tragedies we cannot keep tolerating. It is time for both government and corporate Nigeria to turn advocacy into real pipelines, real clean taps, and real change.
