Constraints on data collection implementation at the river basin level in Nigeria

Abstract

Study regionBenin-Owena and Ogun Oshun river basins, Nigeria Study focusNigeria is a signatory to the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Target 6.1 of Goal 6 has requested member nations to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. To meet this target as the country population reaches 257.8 million by 2030 in the face of limited freshwater resource will require collecting water resource, water use, socio-economic and environmental data in accordance with the provision of the River Basin Development Authority Act CAP 396 LFN 1990 (section 4(1)(e)). Implementing data collection at the river basin level will help inform and support action towards the realisation of Nigeria’s drinking water target. This study therefore explores the situation of data collection in Nigeria and exposes the factors constraining its full implementation. New hydrological insightsEvidence distilled from data gathering sources revealed that: (a) only hydrological and meteorological data were being collected by the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), (b) even with that, inadequate financial resources constrained its full implementation, and (c) the inability of the RBDAs to collect hydrogeological, water use, socio-economic, and environmental data was traced to institutional factors. This study offers proposals on measures which might help to improve the situation towards a better data collection implementation at the river basin level in Nigeria.