By Ugonma Cokey
A coalition of civil society organisations (including CSDevNet member organisations) have kicked against the planned privatisation and concessioning of water infrastructure in Lagos state, Southwest Nigeria.
The groups under the aegies of Joint action Front (JAF) marched round Ikeja, the state capital on the 22nd of March 2018 in commemoration of the World Water Day and later handed over their concerns in a letter to the state governor.
The groups called on the state government to halt concession of Lagos Water infrastructure with transnational corporations like Veolia, Metro and Abengoa which they described as “transnational corporations with track record in infractions and corruption”
They also called on the state to remove the remaining provisions in the new Lagos Environment Law that opens the door for privatization in the PPP form or any other.
The campaigners urged the state to “fully uphold the human right to water as an obligation of the government representing the people, integrate broad public participation including that of women in developing plans to achieve universal access to clean water”
Below are images of the protest:
Activists protesting against the privatisation of water in Lagos, Nigeria 2 (PHOTO: ClimateReporters/Ugonma Cokey)