Resources / Global Sanitation Fund Sanitation Sector Status and Gap Analysis for Nigeria

Summary

With a total land area of 923,768km2, an estimated population of 144.7 million people (2.7% population growth rate) and illiteracy rate of 28% in 2008, Nigeria is the most populous in Africa, second largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and the tenth largest producer of crude oil in the world at 2.1 million barrels per day. Despite the country’s crude oil reserve poverty in the country multi-dimensional and has many faces as poverty vary by regions, state, location (urban and rural) and by gender. Most notably are health and hygiene poverty which has been attributed to poor water supply and sanitation situation. In 2007, maternal mortality rate was estimated to be 800 per 100,000 live births (UNDP) and was rated as one of the highest in the world. Infant and under-five mortality differs across location (81 for urban and 121 for rural) while under five mortality rate was 243 for rural and 153 for urban with a life expectancy of 54 years in 2007 (FMH & NBS 2008). The National Water Sanitation Policy recognized the importance of sanitation by noting that the mortality rate due to poor sanitation in the country is alarming with approximately 5%-20% resulting from diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, paratyphoid, guinea worm, bilharzia, etc. Cholera also has its incidence rate on the increase within the same period, as well as typhoid and paratyphoid. Half of the population has at least one episode of malaria every year. Though there is strong evidence of a high decline of dracunculiasis (guinea worm) from 653,620 cases in 1988 to only 1,460 cases in 2003, the disease still exists in 16 states especially in the rural areas.