Assessing the water supply and sanitation sector for post-2015 development agenda: a focus on Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed residents’ access to domestic water supply and sanitation in different residential areas of Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. The aim is to provide information capable of suggesting policy response towards meeting the SDGs on water supply and sanitation in the metropolis. Out of the 16 local government areas (LGAs), Agege, Kosofe and Ojo LGAs were randomly selected to represent high, medium and low residential areas, respectively. Questionnaires were administered on 878 residents comprising 458, 306 and 114 in Agege, Kosofe and Ojo LGAs, respectively. Data collected were analysed using crosstabulation, Chi-square tests (with eta2) and analysis of variance (with Bonferroni post hoc test). Findings revealed common sources of water but variation in quantity of water residents consumed across the residential areas with average household water consumption of 171.8, 227.2 and 279.8 L in high-, medium- and low-density areas, respectively. The results of ANOVA (F = 54.482; ρ = 0.000) also indicated that volume of water consumed varied significantly across the residential density areas of the study area. For sanitation, the study found that significant portion of the residents (21.3%) made use of inadequate sanitation, mainly located outdoor (53.7%). The quality of these toilets varied with residential zones with high-density area having significant proportion of inadequate toilets (34.5%). This was further established by the result of Chi-square tests (χ = 197.265(li), ρ = 0.000). These findings have implications for policy making towards effective and sustainable intervention strategies for water supply and sanitation in Lagos and other cities with similar background.