ASSESSMENT OF THE SCOPE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN WATER MANAGEMENT OKIJA
ABSTRACT
The broad objective of this study is to determine the scope of water accessibility in Okija community, ascertain the effectiveness of stakeholders involvement in water management, ascertain the challenges to effective stakeholder engagement in water management, examine the relationship between social work practice and water management.
This research method adopted in this study is the survey research design. Data was obtained or generated through the use of questionnaire which were distributed of the two categories of respondents In terms of sample size 100 respondents were selected. The main statistical method used is the descriptive statistics that is frequency count, simple percentage method, means and standard deviation
Major findings from the study revealed that the extent of stakeholders engagement in rural water supply is recognized. The study also revealed that stakeholders aimed at enabling informed and outcome-oriented contributions to water policy design and implementation. Federal Government with the collaboration of international agency especially UNICEF prepared water resource master plan for rural water supply. The study also revealed that, the  weakness of stakeholders engagement can result to water scarcity in rural community and reduce the rate of water supply and stakeholders lack  sufficient and appropriate resources, while the strength of  stakeholders engagement lead to increase in productivity of people in the community and improved the rate of water supply.
TABLE OF CONTENT
1.1    Background of study    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
1.2    Statement of the problem    -    -    -    -    -    -    -        
1.3 Objective of the study    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
1.4 Research Questions    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
1.5 Significance of Study    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
1.6 Definition of Terms    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Review of Relevant Concept    -    -    -    -    -    -    
2.1.1 Water Supply    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
2.1.2 Rural Water supply situation in Nigeria -    -    -    -    -    
2.1.3    Community Participation in the Rural Water Supply    -    -    -    
2.2.1    Stakeholder    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
2.2.2 Stakeholder Engagement  -    -    -      -        -        -    
2.2.3    Extent Stakeholder’s Engagement in rural Supply    -    -    -    
2.2.4    Stakeholders of Water Management     -    -    -    -    -    
2.2.5     Scope and Effectiveness of Stakeholders role in Water Management    
2.3     Challenges of water Management in Nigeria    -    -    -    -    
2.4    Water Government     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
2.5    Theoretical Framework    -    -    -    -    -    -    
2.5.1    Modernization Theory    -    -    -    -    -    -    
2.5.2     Social Learning Theory    -    -    -    -    -    -    
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODLOGY
3.1 Introduction -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
3.2 Research Design     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
3.3 Population of the Study    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Technique -    -    -    -    -    -    
3.5 Research Instrument  -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
3.6 Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument-    -    -    -    
3.7 Method of Data Collection-    -    -    -    -    -    -    
3.8 Method of Data Analysis -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION /ANALYSIS AND DISCUSION OF FINDINGS
4.0 Introduction    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
4.1 Analysis of Respondents Characteristics    -    -    -    -    -    
4.2 Analysis of Research, Presentation and Discussion of Findings    -    -    
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, LIMITATIONS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary     -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
5.2   Conclusion -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
5.3    Recommendations -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
References    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
Questionnaire    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    
  CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Water is a critical resource. It supports human life and culture, ecological functions and economic activities. However, in many developed nations the demand for water is increasing at rates which are outstripping traditional supply sources. This is leading to a crisis of water management in many locations which is acknowledged in various international declarations (United Nations 2001, 2003). In many parts of the world, the lack of an adequate supply of clean water for drinking and sanitation is a serious environmental and health issue. Waterborne diseases remain one of the most significant threats to human health worldwide. According to the United Nations World Health Organization’s 2002 report, an estimated 1.7 million deaths a year can be attributed to unsafe water supplies. Most of these deaths are from diarrheal diseases; 90 percent of which are children in developing countries. There is a water crisis today, but the crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs. It is a crisis of managing water so badly that billions of people –and the environment–suffer badly’ (World Water Council, 2010).
In the developing world, water quality remains the major concern (though water quantity is certainly a major problem in certain geographic areas). In this case, scarcity results when either the physical quantity of water is low or the quality of existing water resources is unfit for human use. Rapid urbanization has outpaced the capacities of many countries to meet basic human needs for both distribution and sanitation (Agyeman, 2005). Simply put, most water industries within developing nations are incapable of supplying adequate and clean water to all citizens. A major problem is simply inadequate infrastructure—not enough pipes exist to satisfy demand. To compound this, many citizens in the developing world live in large shanty towns on the outskirts of cities and lack formal property rights to their homes. Governments often refuse to recognize these dwellers because doing so would mean they would have to fulfill an obligation to supply these citizens with services, including water (Nwankwoala, 2011). The vicious cycle continues as those without water are forced to make use of whatever is available, often times bathing, cleaning, and laundering in horribly polluted streams.
Water is absolutely essential for the existence, development and preservation of all human life, making it an essential commodity in the world. However, nearly one billion people in the world lack access to potable water, mainly those living in third world countries (Shah, 2010). A water crisis has gripped these regions, threatening the quality of life of those in the developing world. According to the United Nations Human Development Report, the water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through weapons (Water Facts, 2012). Every year, approximately 1.4 million children die from unavailable, clean drinking water; and 3.6 million people die each year from water-related diseases. Of that large number, 84% are children and 98% are living in the developing world. Clearly this is a major health issue in the world today that must be addressed to save the lives of the millions of people that are dying from preventable ailments.
Few  decades  ago,  there  have  been  efforts  to increase  provision  of  domestic  water  for  both rural  and urban homes. However, water is still unavailable to many, mainly those located in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and East Asia (Ellen & Kellog, 2005). Furthermore, the availability of water varies greatly, while some people pay so dearly for domestic water, others have an easy access to  adequate  clean  water  and  sanitation  due  to  their location  and  social  status  in  the  society  (Hunter, Pond, Jagals,  Cameron, 2009).
The United Nations as part of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) stipulates that by 2015 the population of people without sustainable access to safe water will be reduced by half (Linda-Stalker, 2005). As a result of this, efforts are being made by the developed nations to increase provision of domestic water and sanitation, but no serious efforts are made by the developing nations to meet this target. Rural communities in many developing nations have to obtain their drinking water from untreated surface sources, often situated far away from their residence. For  instance,  in  many  Nigerian  rural communities,  water  supply  infrastructures  are  still  at developmental stage or are completely absent (Rossiter, 2010).  Worldwide,  waterborne  diseases  cause death  and  suffering  of  millions  of  people,  especially children  in  developing  countries.  This  made  the  World Health  Organization  (2008),   to  suggest  that  improving sanitation  and  hygiene  could  drastically  reduce  child mortality.
 Recent survey by Majuru, (2011) estimated that 65 million Nigerians had no access to safe water. The situation was worse in the rural areas where only 24% of the population were said to have access to safe water. Provision of clean, reliable and potable water in rural areas remain therefore a challenge considering the fact that the larger percentage of the population live in rural areas. When provision of clean water is inadequate, people are compelled to use contaminated water that later result into water related diseases and in the outbreak of these diseases. Thus, governments need to spend money on what would have been prevented by provision of clean water (Mwendera, 2013).
The  major  sources  of  water  supply for the rural populace are hand-dug wells, natural springs  and  streams,  together  with  rainfall  harvest, majority  of  which  are  highly  unreliable  during  the  dry seasons  (Makoni, 2004).  As  in  other  parts  of  the country,  efforts  geared  towards  rural  development  in Nigeria and towards “water for all by the year 2020” have increased the assessment, exploration and exploitation of water resources both surface and underground (Ellen & Kellog,  2005).  Although there were investments in the provision of potable water to local dwellers in the state by both government and non-governmental organizations, there is still a long way to go (Gay, Lawrence & Jamie, 2007).
Improving access to safe water supply and sanitation service is a preventive intervention which will have an outcome of reducing number of diarrhea cases and a proportionate reduction in number of deaths. Low level of rural water supply is evident in poor health, especially the health of young children’s life having infant mortality rate of 170 per 1000  live  births  of  death  from  infectious  diseases, approximately 65 percent are accounted for by diarrhea diseases  and  dysentery,  malaria  and  tetanus, and  the majority of these affect children under five years of age (Schafer, Rossiter, Owusu, Richards &Awuah, 2009). One of the major problems facing the effort to provide access to improved drinking water supply has been the lack of proper records of available water sources and their hygiene (Hope, 2006).
The  problems  people  experience  with  water  supply  and sanitation  in  Nigeria  are  numerous  and  complex.  The nature of the problem differs depending on the context rural or urban, routine or civil emergency e.t.c. (Cairncross &Valdmanis, 2006). This paper focuses  on  the  poorest  rural  and  peri-urban  areas,  where people  have  access  to  a  very  low  level  of  water  supply and sanitation technology; it does not specifically address the  situation  of  emergency  need  or  those  of  urban  pipe borne water supply and sewerage. Inadequacies  in  water  supply  and  sanitation  infrastructure  (sanitation  taken  here  to  include  excreta  and wastewater  disposal/treatment)  pose  separate,  but  linked problems.  The  immediate  problems  result  in  a  string  of further  consequences,  which  adversely  affect  the  quality of life of the poor.
The  identified  problems  are  particularly  common  in almost  all  rural  areas  of  Nigeria,  particularly  in  the  northern  part  of  the  country  where  there  is  usually  a  long period of dry season. Increased scarcity of water (through draught  or  other  access  restrictions)  brings  lots  of  hardships  to  people  and  also  reduces  household  capacity  to combine  water  with  other  assets  in  order  to  produce income (Shayo & Deogratias, 2013). One  of  the  common  features  in  Nigeria  and  indeed  in  many  developing  countries  is  that  the  impacts  of community  water  and  sanitation  programmes  are  limited,  because  many  of  them  are  ill-conceived  and are abandoned prematurely due to numerous attitudinal, institutional and economic factors. Thus, there is  lack  of  sustainability  in  the  sense  of  service  delivery  and  upkeep  of  services.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Clean, accessible water is critical to human health, a healthy environment, poverty reduction, a sustainable economy, and peace and security. Yet over 40% of the global population does not have access to sufficient clean water. By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, according to UN-Water. The lack of water poses a major threat to several sectors, including food security. Agriculture uses about 70% of the world’s accessible freshwater. One of  mankind’s biggest  global challenges is  access  to  potable  water  supply;  its availability, quality  and  governance.  Currently some 1.5 billion people lack a safe water supply (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation &United Nations Human Settlements Programme 2008).
Water availability is a major concern in the rural communities of Nigeria, which supports about 30% of the country's population. Past and current high rates of population growth in the rural communities have contributed  significantly  to  the  increase  in  water  consumption  (Nyong & Kanaroglou,  2007).  Efficient  management  of  water  resources  is  therefore important  if  the  health  and  well-being  of  the  people,  particularly  in  the  rural areas,  is  to  be  maintained.  Previous  studies  that  dealt  with  water  resources  have  cited  the  need  for  an  integrated  water  resources  management approach,  emphasizing  water  demand,  which  has  received  very  little  attention (Ezeigbo & Ogbukagu,  2001;  Ijere & Mailafiya,  2005).
Although  domestic  water  use  accounts  for  only  9%  of  the  total  water consumption  in  sub-Saharan  Africa  (World  Resources  Institute, 2009),  the benefits associated with an adequate supply, such as the effects on  health, time savings,  and  greater  productivity,  are  immense  ( Whittington & Swarna, 2014). A recent survey in rural Nigeria revealed that 38% of the communities and 48% of  all  the  households  surveyed  identified  the  lack  of  potable  water  as  their greatest problem (Federal Ministry of Water Resources, 2000). This underscores the importance of domestic water  as  a  major  resource  of  concern  to  the  rural  people,  6.4%  of  whom remained  unserved.  
To  plan  effectively  and  develop  an  integrated  water  resource  management strategy  for  rural  communities  in  Nigeria  requires  an  understanding  of  the existing  patterns  of  water  use  and  the  socio -demographic  and  cultural  factors that  influence  such  patterns.  It  is  estimated  that  at  least  25%  of  rural  water projects  in  developing  countries  are  not  functioning,  and  in  some  countries construction  of  new  facilities does  not even keep pace with the  rate of  failure (Muo, 2012).
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The broad objective of this study is to examine;
1.    To determine the scope of water accessibility in Okija community.
2.    To ascertain the effectiveness of stakeholders involvement in water management.
3.    To ascertain the challenges to effective stakeholder engagement in water management.
4.    To examine the relationship between social work practice and water management.
1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.    What is the scope of water accessibility in Okija community?
2.    What is the effectiveness of stakeholder’s involvement in water management?
3.    What are the challenges of stakeholder engagement in water management?
4.    What are the relationships between social work practice and water management?
1.5     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of this research is measured in terms of generating important information and lesson learned from the past and present water supply system as per stakeholder engagement in rural water supply management and sustainability
This research will be used to stimulate and enrich discussions about the necessary conditions for results-oriented stakeholder engagement, and to guide decision makers accordingly. It will shed light on the sources, availability and affordability of safe water in the rural area and by extension, Nigeria. The challenges faced by rural communities in  meeting  the  water  needs  will  also be exposed.  The  problems  people  experience  with  accessibility of water  supply in  Nigeria  are  numerous  and  complex, therefore, the result of this study will provide basic information for designing structures and programmes by the policy makers in reevaluating existing policies so as to come up with more realistic programs for the accessibility of water in the rural communities. It will also provide evidence based information on water accessibility in rural area as it serves as a reference material to other researchers in the field of rural water accessibility. Findings of the study will help stakeholders get available data to help needing communities. It will also help in building up and improving data on water accessibility in the rural area which will help further with research, advocacy, policy dialogue and programming.
Thus, the research is meant for contributing an input towards future planning, implementation and management of stakeholders in sustainable rural water supply project and enriches the knowledge base to be used by other researchers who intend to conduct broad based research pertaining to stakeholder engagement in rural water supply, management and sustainability. The study will help as a literature review for other students, researchers who might conduct the same study.
1.6     DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPTS
Centralized Management System: It refers to rural water supply that is dependent and directed by the central government for management, technical and financial support.
Community Management: It refers to the capacity of a community to control or at least strongly influence the basic decisions over construction and management of its water supply system.
Community Participation: This is a process where community members come together to take collective actions and generate solutions to common problems.
Operation and Maintenance (O&M): It refers to a mechanism put in place for efficient management and repair of water supply facilities.
Rural  Community:  Rural  people  usually  live  in  a  farmstead  or  in  groups  of houses  containing about 5000  persons, separated by farmland, pasture, trees or scrubland. Most rural people spend the majority of their working time on farms.
Social  Work:  This  a  helping  profession  with  its  main  goal  being  to  improve  a society’s overall well-being, especially for the most vulnerable populations.
Stakeholders Engagement: Is the process by which an organization/community involves people who may be effected by the decisions it makes, or can influence the implementation of its decisions.
Stakeholders: Stakeholders are persons or group of people who are directly or indirectly affected by water policy, as well as those who may have interests in it and/ or the ability to influence its outcome, either positively or negatively.
Sustainable Development: This is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while at the same time sustaining the ability of natural system to natural provide the natural resources and ecosystem service upon which the economy and society depends.
Water Accessibility: The degree to which a household can obtain the water it needs from any source in a reliable way for agriculture or other purposes.
Water Scarcity: The point at which the aggregate impact of all users impinges on the supply or quality of water under prevailing institutional arrangements to the extent that the demand by all sectors, including the environment, cannot be satisfied fully.
Water Supply: This is the provision of water by public utilities commercial organization, community endeavor or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes.
Assessment: The action or an instance of making a judgment about something : The act of assessing something .
Effectiveness: Producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect.