90% Of Households In Nigeria Consume Faeces-Stained Water - UNICEF

A survey by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that 90.8 percent of households in Nigeria consume water that is contaminated by impure substances.

Mrs Maureen Zubie-Okolo, a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist with UNICEF said the results of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) about water and sanitation situation in the country was worrisome.


Faeces and other impure substances like E-coli are identified as the main contaminating agents.

“About two out of every three households use improved water sources, while a little more than one-third use improved sanitation compared to 58.5 percent and 31 percent respectively in 2017,” she said. 

Zubie-Okolo further said the MICS report was carried out in 2017 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with UNICEF.

Also, the report showed that only 64.1 percent of Nigerians had access to good sources of water as at 2017.

On a regional basis, access to drinkable water and good sanitation practice are better in South Western Nigeria than other parts of the country. 87.3 percent of residents in this region have access to drinkable water.

North-East states were revealed to have the worst water and sanitation practice in the country. Only 52.4 percent of households in the region had good sources of water.

The UNICEF official stressed the need for more advocacy across the three tiers of government as regards making policies and implementing programmes that would increase access to improved water sources and sanitation.

Access to good water and clean environment will promote citizens’ well-being and reduce diseases and deaths.