People Power Defeats 'Death Sentence' Water Bill In Nigeria -- But The Fight Isn't Over

In a heartening about-face, the government of Lagos, Nigeria, has backpedaled on a controversial law that would have criminalized the informal water sector , which almost 20 million people rely on to obtain their drinking water.

Activists credit overwhelming public opposition for the reversal, and environmental and human rights groups are breathing a sigh of relief. But a huge protest that unfolded in Lagos on Wednesday World Water Day signals their fight is far from over.

I can confirm that most of the anti-people provisions have been removed from the final version of the law, Akinbode Oluwafemi, deputy executive director for Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, told The Huffington Post in an email this week.

But even with the revisions to the law, it is still not yet uhuru, Oluwafemi warned in a statement, using the Swahili word for freedom.

The United Nations , local activists and citizens alike had reacted strongly to a draft of the Lagos Environment Bill , passed hastily in February by the Lagos State House of Assembly. The bill went after the metropolitan areas informal water sector including local mai ruwa , or water vendors, who have been known to charge exorbitant fees as well as residents who drill their own boreholes or fetch water from lakes or rivers.

According to activists, the draft included language so broad that it would have potentially threatened most residents access to drinking water. Lagos, Africas most populous city, located in a state of the same name, is the midst of a major water crisis. Only 1 in 10 people have access to water that the state utility provides. Oluwafemi called the states proposal a death sentence.

When the State fails to provide adequate access to drinking water, no one should be criminalized or fined for fetching water from lakes, rivers, or any other natural sources, Lo Heller, U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, said in a statement last month, adding that the Lagos state government had gone a step too far.

In Lagos #Nigeria, home to millions, the #Right2Water & #Right2Sanitation have been overlooked for too long - https://t.co/bsEaMVeZSU pic.twitter.com/foRayyaLYJ

Lo Heller (@SRWatSan) December 22, 2016","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Lo Heller","author_url":"https://twitter.com/SRWatSan","cache_age":86400,"description":"In Lagos #Nigeria, home to millions, the #Right2Water & #Right2Sanitation have been overlooked for too long - https://t.co/bsEaMVeZSU pic.twitter.com/foRayyaLYJ— Lo Heller (@SRWatSan) December 22, 2016\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Lo Heller on 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In Lagos #Nigeria , home to millions, the #Right2Water & #Right2Sanitation have been overlooked for too long - https://t.co/bsEaMVeZSU pic.twitter.com/foRayyaLYJ
Lo Heller (@SRWatSan) December 22, 2016

For decades, the state has neglected to invest in water infrastructure in Lagos, Jesse Bragg, spokesman at the nonprofit Corporate Accountability International, explained from Boston earlier this month. It has instead favored the possible privatization of Lagos water utility through public-private partnerships, he said a plan that has repeatedly been met with public opposition, and has repeatedly failed .

Activists felt the draft of the environment bill was a way for the government to push its privatization agenda.

We are particularly worried that the governor will sign a law that practically wills our right to a free gift of nature to private interests whose sole concern is profits, said Francis Abayomi, executive director of the Peace and Development Project in Nigeria.

Amid the opposition, Lagos lawmakers scrambled to assure their constituents that the bill, which also included provisions related to waste management and other issues, would benefit all Lagosians .

Akinwunmi Ambode, the governor of Lagos state, said the bill would result in historic environmental victories as he signed it into law on March 1. Tunde Braimoh, the House committee chairman on information, strategy and security, added that the bills more contentious provisions had already been removed before Ambode signed it.

However, to the chagrin of environmental and human rights groups, the laws final language was not made public until almost three weeks later.

In a statement last Thursday, a coalition of activist groups called for the government to stop hiding the details of the new law. Government officials finally released the laws language to the public over the weekend.