By Edu Abade
As the number of deaths from the latest cholera outbreak in the country rose to 40 as of Sunday, June 23, 2024, the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) has said the recurrent outbreaks and deaths in the country expose the challenges that force Nigerians to patronize unwholesome sources and the poor management of water delivery systems.
RDI’s position is coming on the heels of the alert by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that the country does not have enough vaccines to address the growing cases of cholera across the country.
Deaths attributable to the current outbreak in Lagos was 24 as at Wednesday (June 19) representing the highest among the 10 states of the federation that contributed 90 per cent to the burden of cholera.
Others are Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Cross River, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo and Nasarawa states. The cholera deaths are blamed largely on delayed presentation of cases.
In a statement, Project Officer of RDI, Ifeoluwa Adediran said: “The periodic cholera outbreaks are very disturbing and reinforce our arguments that the abysmally low investment in the water sector at both state and federal level are further complicated by poor maintenance of the facilities that house and freight water from the waterworks to the different localities they service. In some communities the residents resort to unwholesome sources to get water. These are the issues that fuel the cholera outbreaks
“In Lagos where there have been more deaths we are worried about the integrity of pipelines that convey water to localities. In several communities the pipelines right of way include gutters where breakages and other breaches usually occur and are not addressed for months and years in some cases.”
While commending the federal and the Lagos State government for their sensitization efforts to address the current crisis, the RDI project officer insisted that it is time that government at all levels take the issue of provision of water to remote communities and ensuring pipeline integrity as priority.
“Our recommendation is that increasing investments in the water sector must be complemented and go hand-in-hand with ensuring that the water delivery systems are regularly maintained. Water must also be available and affordable so that citizens are not forced to patronize other sources that lead to Cholera and other debilitating ailments.”
