Ministry Initiates Tracking Mechanism To Monitor Water, Sanitation Progress

The Federal Ministry
of Water Resources has said that it had introduced a tracking mechanism to monitor activities of the government and development agencies in the provision of water and sanitation.
The Director, Water Quality and Sanitation Control in the ministry, Mr Samuel Ome,  said this at a Validation Workshop on the 2014 Global Analysis Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water in Abuja.
He said the initiative was necessary in view of the calls from stakeholders in the sector to synergise reports to arrive at accurate data for the sector.
“We have tried now to establish a mechanism to track what is being done in water supply and sanitation.
“We now have a branch on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Tracking and Documentation, to keep track of what we are doing.
“We are working with the ministry, Bureau of Statistics and all other agencies involved to achieve this.”
Ome noted that conflicting reports and the negative image of Nigeria internationally did not reflect the huge investments in   the water and sanitation sector in the country.
He said that part of the tracking mechanism included annual stakeholder meetings to validate the sector and bring on board all the activities of different line agencies in all the zones.
Miss Tolani Busari, WaterAid Nigeria’s Head of Governance, in her goodwill message, also tasked the government to ensure improved water assess, to meet the MDGs and encourage Post-MDGs deliberations.
“While we are canvassing for water and sanitation to be a stand-alone goal, we should have an internal system to measure our achievements.
“Nigeria can change the shape of things, if we as a country and people advise our leaders on improved access,” she said.
In a remark, Mr Kannan Nadar, UNICEF’s Chief WASH Specialist, urged stakeholders to “paint the real picture of the water and sanitation situation in Nigeria”, to attract funding and interventions.