A total of 41 participants attended the meeting, including government representatives, ministries, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic and research institutions, water users, data generation institutions, pressmen, and international donor agencies. The Chairman of the GWP-Nigeria delivered a welcome address.
The National Consultation process Consultant, Professor Lekan Oyebande, presented the background and overview of the global post-2015 discussion and process, including the history and formulation process of the MDGs, globally viewed weaknesses and strengths of the MDG framework, and tasked the groups to recommend possible water management and development priorities for a post 2015 development framework in the Nigeria context.
The National Consultation particularly focused on WASH, Water Resources Management, Waste Water Management and Water Quality which the stakeholders agreed are indeed national priorities.
The peculiarities of the Nigeria’s federal structure came to the fore during the discussions at the sessions. The Nigerian federal structure makes provision of most basic services the responsibility of states and local governments, with considerable level of autonomy. Water supply is a state responsibility, and to this end state governments have created State Water Agencies (SWAs) to manage and operate systems for water service delivery in urban and rural areas. The role of the federal government is limited to policy formulation at national level, research and development and coordination of water supply.