The church: asset and agent in achieving sustainable water supply in Nigerian urban environments

Abstract

In the last decades there has been a growing National concern on urban water supply and environmental sustainability. This concern is precisely because of the unbridled commoditization of ground and surface water with little or no regard for the urban ecosystems that depend on water. As this trend exacerbates, ecosystem’s health in many Nigerian urban environments have been affected. It has therefore become imperative to include a broad spectrum of intellectual disciplines to help articulate solutions to the challenges of urban water supply. In the past the role of the church in this area had been unrecognized. But, realizing that solutions to urban environmental challenges require a multidisciplinary approach, this paper argues that the church as both asset and agent is most useful in conscientizing and transforming people to adopt a new mindset- a behavioral attitude required to halt the progression of environmental degradation in general and specifically improve urban water supply in Nigeria.