Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Accessibility Levels to Potable Water Supply in Rural Areas of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

The UN in the year 2000 enlisted improved access to potable water supply as one of the development goals to be achieved by 2015 in developing countries including Nigeria. This study therefore, examined the levels of access to potable water supply in rural areas of Akwa Ibom State against the background of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. To carry out the investigation, the map of the study area was divided into 500 grid squares (quadrates) and a total of 50 rural communities were sampled using table of random numbers. Community heads or their spokesmen/women in the sampled areas were target respondents and data on major sources of water supply, distance to the nearest major source of water supply and the number of water boreholes in the communities were collected and analyzed. The population of the communities provided a basis for evolving an index that measured the levels of access to potable water supply in the study area. The use of GIS was subsequently employed to map out the study area on the basis of levels of access to potable water supply. The overall result depicts a very poor status scenario as majority of the communities studied have deteriorating conditions. The study recommends among others that a state of emergency be declared in the water sector, if the MDGs are to be achieved in the water sector by 2015.