Challenges and Mitigation of Water Resource Management in Rural Areas in Nigeria

Apart from air, water is the next resource that sustains life on earth. It is consumed as a source of food and energy and serves as the habitat for aquatic organisms. Seventy percent (70%) of the earth is covered by water body and is a major sink for carbon dioxide and other atmospheric pollutants. Water body thus helps to purify the air and regulate the climate. Water also serves as a sink for contaminants from the ground and the atmosphere because of its wide expanse from continent to continent. In Africa, water plays a critical role in providing livelihood opportunities for indigenous poor people, who use the water body as their source of protein (fish and other seafood), drinking, cleaning, and cooling water, especially in small-scale industries. Water bodies in Nigeria have been drastically reduced by 10% because of numerous anthropogenic activities that are inimical to their sustenance. These activities include dredging, sand filling, coastal development, and industrialization. The ever-increasing population in coastal areas has also led to the reclamation of swamps and water bodies to build houses to accommodate more people migrating from rural to urban areas. The management of water resources is thus significant to maintain the remaining water bodies to continue providing various ecosystem services. Bodies such as intra- and inter-cooperative agencies should be established to monitor, protect, and preserve coastal resources to help alleviate poverty in Nigeria.