Ensuring sustainability and improving functionality of water supply facilities through VLOM in Nigeria – from pilot to national strategy

It is estimated that by 2030 only 72% of the rural population in Nigeria will have access to improved water supply. Alarmingly however are the high estimates (~50%) of nonfunctional rural hand pumps at any given time. Achieving the SDG targets will not only require huge investment in extending the improved water coverage to currently unserved but more importantly current investments in hand pump boreholes must be sustained. From the experience of the pilot project carried out by UNICEF and Tulsi Chanrai Foundation, 80% of the non-functional hand pumps were found to be repairable and state and local government service providers able to transform their O&M culture to ensure functionality at or above 90% at any given time. The challenge for Nigeria therefore lies in affecting a national VLOM strategy and to ensure its meticulous implementation.