Lagos ‘Shit Water’ Boreholes, Evidence of Government Failure, Says CAPPA

By Simeon OSAJIE

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has noted with concern, the recent remarks made by Mahmood Adegbite, Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services and Water Resources, Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, acknowledging that residents of the Lekki Peninsula are “probably drinking what I will call ‘shit water” due to contaminated boreholes.

In a statement by Robert Egbe,
Media and Communication Officer, on Sunday and made available to newsmen, CAPPA noted that while the bluntness of the statement has drawn attention, it is the underlying failure it exposes that should concern all Lagosians.

“The government is bad-mouthing a crisis it manufactured. Boreholes and even dug wells in Lagos are not luxury choices for residents. They are a survival response and the last resort of a people forced to become their own service providers while public institutions fail to meet this basic need.

“For decades residents of Lekki and indeed much of Lagos State have been left with no choice but to rely on unsafe, self-supplied water through boreholes, due to the government’s inability to provide reliable and affordable public water. That the Lagos State Government is now openly admitting the severe health risks this poses, without accepting responsibility is as dishonest as it is troubling,” the organisation observed.

CAPPA argued that rather than mock residents for drilling boreholes, the government must first confront the root cause, which is the chronic neglect of Lagos’ public water infrastructure that has now left many Lagosians depending on all kinds of “shit water” for their daily existence.

The statement pointed out that the problem of faecal contamination, poor wastewater management, and untreated sewage is not new, but “are symptoms of a water governance and sanitation system that has been deliberately left to rot, while decision-makers flirt with discredited privatisation models that place profit above people. What is missing is not a diagnosis of the problem, but a comprehensive, transparent, and publicly accountable plan to fix it.”

CAPPA stressed that it has repeatedly raised the alarm about Lagos’ crippling underinvestment in public water infrastructure, the lack of transparency in water governance, and the persistent attempts to impose private sector-led water models — many of which have failed in other parts of the globe. It added that the government now appears to be reviving market-based water reforms without public consultation or accountability, warning that Lagos cannot continue down this road.

“You cannot neglect your constitutional duty for decades, then turn around to shame people for doing what they must to survive,” said Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of CAPPA.

“When the state cannot provide clean and safe water, people will do what they must to survive. The question we must ask is: What is the Lagos State Government doing to ensure that its citizens no longer have to drink contaminated water, or live in fear of the next outbreak of disease?”

The group called for urgent and dedicated public investment in water and sanitation, suspension of all market-based reforms, and adoption of a publicly led, community-focused water governance framework. It urged the Lagos state government to convene residents, civil society, and relevant experts in an open and transparent process to co-develop a people-centred water policy. It further demanded a state-wide emergency plan that targets underserved communities, repair broken wastewater systems, and integrate climate-resilient approaches to water access and drainage.

The organisation noted that while regulation of indiscriminate borehole drilling is important, “it cannot happen without first providing viable and accessible public water alternatives.”

“Lagosians are not to blame for drinking unsafe water. They are victims of policy failure. This failure must be acknowledged and corrected not weaponised to justify even more anti-people reforms,” it concluded.