Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 in Nigeria: Lessons from Bangladesh’s ‘Nature Based Solution’ Approach

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 6 is about ensuring adequate and quality water for all by 2030. However, there are concerns that Nigeria will not achieve SDG 6 as its efforts to ensure quality water have proved abortive. Nigeria does not recognize the people’s access to potable water as a constitutional right either. Bangladesh, one of the UNSDGs’ Global Champions, is a successful case study. There is, of course, a shortage of drinkable water in Bangladesh due to problems like those of Nigeria. Still, the country’s governmental actions, laws, and policies promote a Nature Based Solution (NBS) which includes eco-friendly strategies such as rainwater harvesting and other eco-sustainable approaches to conservation that benefit both human beings and the environment. Most importantly, it puts the people at the forefront of all conservation efforts. In this paper, we propose to examine the laws, regulations, and strategies that bring both Bangladesh’s people and nature into one collective action and consider whether Nigeria could use it to redress its communities’ lack of potable water. We argue that Bangladesh’s NBS approach should be seen, with some structural and cultural precautions, as the most sensible strategy for Nigeria, if the country is willing to achieve SDG 6 by 2030.