Socio-Economic and Spatial Determinants of Housholds’ Water Accessibility in Lokoja, Nigeria

Access to adequate water is a major challenge facing many households in Nigeria especially In Lokoja, which has the largest burden of morbidity and mortality. Previous studies on water accessibility focused on quality, without considering the pattern of urban households’ access to water based on geographic location and household socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, this study investigated socio-economic and spatial determinants of households’ access to safe water in Lokoja, Nigeria with a view to developing practical and policy guidelines that will enhance access to safe drinking water. Cross-sectional design was adopted. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 350 household heads in the six residential zones across Lokoja as identified in the Lokoja Urban Master Plan. This was obtained using Taro Yamane sample size calculator based on the 2025 population projection of 58,219 households. The data were analyesed using descriptive and inferential statistics at p ≤ 0.05. Male-head households constituted 57.6%. Households sourced water from boreholes (64.5%), tube-well (11.5%) hand-dug well (28.9%), rain harvesting (2.7%) and stream (0.10%). About 59% households had optimal access to water, 26.9% intermediate access and 14.4% has basic access, while pipe-borne water was not functional. There is association between Socio-economic characteristics of households and access to safe water R²=0.54. The results obtained indicate that households has varied degree of water accessibility across residential zones in Lokoja. To achieve equitable access to safe water, restoration of public water reservoir system, provision of motorised and hand-pumped boreholes especially low ad medium density area were recommended among others.

Access to safe water, Accessibility, Lokoja Water Supply

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