Sustainable Water Service Delivery: An Assessment of a Water Agency in a Rapidly Urbanizing City in Nigeria

Abstract

In the Nigerian Federation, water supply is a state responsibility. State governments have therefore created State Water Agencies to manage and operate systems for water service delivery in all urban and semi-urban areas. Generally, these State Water Agencies have failed to effectively deliver water services to the people. In Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State Water Corporation is saddled with the task of meeting the water needs of the city dwellers. This paper examines some factors that explain the poor service delivery level of the Corporation. Adopting a sample size of 1,200 (4% of the total number of households in Ado-Ekiti) through random sampling technique, empirical estimates show that factors that significantly affect the performance level of this Corporation include: payment for water supply, billing system, adequacy of supply, frequency of pumping of water, notices from the Corporation in cases of system breakdown, response to leakages, adequacy of public standing pipes and appropriate location or distribution of standing pipes. The paper clamored for an evolvement of water policy for the state that would adequately address the issues emanating from the significant factors affecting the Corporation performance.