Lagos Water Company’s rehabilitation pressure targets to restore waterworks, draw in funding, support potency and fortify weather resilience amid emerging call for and infrastructure demanding situations, writes Sunday Ehigiator
Dike Onwuamaeze
The Lagos Water Company (LWC) underneath the management of its Managing Director, Engr. Mukhtaar Tijani, not too long ago won global popularity in Glasgow underneath the 2026 World Water Affiliation (IWA) Local weather Sensible Utilities Popularity Programme. The glory made the LWC the second one Nigerian application to obtain the popularity after Kaduna in 2022, and the primary in southern Nigeria. The programme assesses utilities on weather adaptation, greenhouse-gas mitigation and climate-smart management. The popularity additionally highlights LWC’s efforts to construct resilience in spite of longstanding funding and operational demanding situations.
The Glasgow popularity got here in opposition to the backdrop of a broader effort to restore dormant waterworks, rehabilitate crucial infrastructure, modernise distribution networks and fortify the Company’s operations, as Lagos seeks to construct a water machine in a position to responding now not most effective to lately’s calls for but in addition to the rising pressures of urbanisation and weather trade. That truth introduced an impressive problem when Tijani assumed place of business as Managing Director of the Company in July 2023, along Engr. Helen Omolanke Taiwo as Govt Director, Operations.
On the time, the Company reported that most effective two of its 4 primary remedy crops have been purposeful, generating a blended 15 million gallons of water day by day, whilst most effective six of its 48 mini and micro waterworks have been running, or even the ones have been beneath their capacities.
3 years later, the image has modified to one among an establishment present process a broad-based programme of rehabilitation, restructuring, technological modernisation, and partnership construction.
For Tijani, then again, the duty seems to were much less about popularity and extra about rebuilding the establishment from its foundations, with primary interventions now concerned about restoring manufacturing capability and making improvements to the reliability of the programs required to transport water throughout Lagos.
Changing crucial pumping apparatus
One of the crucial newest interventions used to be the alternative of crucial pumping apparatus at Iju Waterworks after greater than 3 many years of carrier. LWC has won six clear-water pumps with motors and one further pump head for Iju Waterworks, in addition to two raw-water pumps with motors and regulate programs for the Adiyan Consumption. Set up of the brand new apparatus at Iju is ongoing.
With Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s imaginative and prescient to advance funding in crucial water infrastructure, the intervention is predicted to support water manufacturing and operational reliability at Iju after the brand new apparatus is put in and commissioned.
Powering the waterworks
Mukhtaar Tijani’s engineering and energy-sector enjoy has introduced a treasured point of view to his management of the water sector. Dependable electrical energy is very important to remedy crops, pumping stations and distribution networks. That working out is mirrored within the collaboration between LWC and the Ministry of Power and Mineral Sources, linking the rehabilitation of water infrastructure with the facility programs required to stay it operating. Any other primary element of the infrastructure programme is the rebuilding of the Akute Impartial Energy Plant, which is meant to offer committed chronic to crucial water infrastructure.
On April 26, 2026, Governor Sanwo-Olu presided over the signing of the facility settlement with Fenchurch. Rebuilding of the 26 MW plant started on September 26, 2026, with the present engines being got rid of for alternative with new gasoline engines. The plant is deliberate to provide Akute Consumption, Iju and Adiyan waterworks.
Financed through Zenith Financial institution underneath the state’s Public-Non-public Partnership (PPP) scheme, the reported implementation plan is to ship 10 MW inside of 4 months and the remainder 16 MW inside of 365 days.
The dedicated-power funding is predicted to deal with some of the crucial constraints affecting water manufacturing and pumping reliability, specifically because the Company advances the rehabilitation of primary waterworks and the finishing touch of Adiyan II.
The Audacious Mandate
One of the crucial defining options of Mukhtaar Tijani’s tenure has been the verdict to way the Company’s demanding situations as interconnected issues slightly than remoted disasters.
Manufacturing can’t be separated from pumping capability. Pumping can’t be separated from dependable chronic. Higher manufacturing is of restricted worth with out purposeful distribution networks.
The cancellation of investment for the USAID-supported Lagos City Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (LUWASH) programme, at the beginning valued at roughly $45 million, compelled the Company to check its plans. The disruption adopted President Donald Trump’s halt to international support and the following withdrawal of USAID make stronger.
LWC had constructed its four-year rehabilitation plan across the anticipated investment. Without a preliminary funds provision to hide the ensuing hole, Mukhtaar Tijani and the Company reassessed their priorities, settling on waterworks that the Lagos State Govt may fund. The reaction used to be to stay rehabilitation shifting, although the overall programme may now not continue as at the beginning deliberate.
That philosophy is mirrored in Mukhtaar Tijani’s public statements. All over a contemporary inspection, he mentioned: “The paintings is progressing continuously,” including that “We’re proud of the development we now have made to this point. Procurement has been finished, the entire apparatus has been brought to the website, and set up is progressing as scheduled.”
Reviving Dormant Waterworks
A number of the maximum visual facets of the programme has been the rehabilitation and recommissioning of amenities that had both change into dormant or have been running beneath doable.
The Mosan Okunola Waterworks used to be recommissioned on December 14, 2023, with reported manufacturing restored to 2 million gallons day by day. Provide used to be additionally prolonged into Baruwa, a space that had confronted extended water shortage and groundwater contamination.
The intervention is very important now not simply on account of the recovery, however since the Company moved past manufacturing to attach the water to communities, with further connections and community extensions deliberate.
Akilo Waterworks used to be recommissioned on December 12, 2025, following the rehabilitation performed with WaterAid Nigeria and Armani Good looks’s Aqua for Existence initiative. The power has a capability of four,500 cubic metres day by day, with the capability to serve roughly 100,000 citizens, along 20 water kiosks. The mission integrated new boreholes, alternative of electromechanical apparatus and rehabilitation of the distribution community. Importantly, the partnership additionally integrated family enumeration, baseline surveys, hygiene promotion and group engagement.
This mix of bodily infrastructure and group engagement illustrates an rising type throughout the Company: water tasks are more and more being thought to be now not simply as engineering assignments, however as service-delivery programs.
The rehabilitation programme additionally contains the development of a brand new mini waterworks on Lagos Island and the rehabilitation of Ajegunle Waterworks.
Along those interventions is the $2.5 million grant-backed rehabilitation of Ojokoro Waterworks, supported through WaterAid Nigeria and TeamWater, with the involvement of standard YouTuber MrBeast. The partnership displays the global make stronger being interested in the Company’s infrastructure programme underneath Mukhtaar Tijani’s management.
The Ojokoro rehabilitation contract used to be signed on September 4, 2026, with Bayroyal World Ltd. It contains civil, mechanical, electric and instrumentation upgrades, borehole rehabilitation and drilling, sun integration, drive tracking, leakage detection, automatic community control, metering and community growth. It’s anticipated to learn roughly 72,000 citizens when delivered. The Lagos Island, Ajegunle and Ojokoro tasks are centered for finishing touch inside of 365 days.
Adiyan II: Transferring a long-delayed mission ahead
In all probability essentially the most consequential mission within the Company’s rehabilitation programme is Adiyan II.
The long-delayed waterworks mission used to be revived in November 2023 following renewed govt investment commitments, contractor remobilisation and more potent mission oversight. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu inspected the Adiyan II mission in February and December 2025 as paintings advanced, offering make stronger to the mission along the mission oversight being undertaken through Mukhtaar Tijani and the Company’s control.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu publicly said Mukhtaar Tijani’s position in reviving Adiyan II on the first Lagos Bodily Making plans Summit, held at Eko Resorts and Suites, Victoria Island, on October 15–16, 2024.
Following former Governor Babatunde Fashola’s attraction to prioritise the mission, Sanwo-Olu recommended Mukhtaar Tijani’s endurance and constant advocacy in bringing the long-stalled waterworks again on the right track.
When finished, Adiyan II is designed to supply 320,000 cubic metres of handled water day by day, greater than 70 million gallons, and is projected to serve greater than 5 million citizens. Tijani has many times highlighted the significance of the mission. In a public replace, he mentioned he had mentioned the Adiyan II mission and the Company’s broader infrastructure upgrades, together with the improvement of community intelligence to support water distribution.
The mission, which is predicted to be operational in 2027, could also be being pursued along funding in committed chronic infrastructure, together with the rebuilding of the Akute Impartial Energy Plant, which is deliberate to provide Adiyan in addition to Iju and Akute Consumption.
Rebuilding Community Underneath the sleepless town
Water infrastructure is not just about remedy crops. A lot of the problem lies underneath the roads and communities during which water should commute.
Below Mukhtaar Tijani’s management, the Company has labored with technical companions to track and digitise greater than 170 kilometres of transmission pipelines the usage of Geographic Data Machine generation.
In the past unmapped sections have been integrated, whilst valves, junctions and key consumers have been geotagged. A initial hydraulic type used to be additionally evolved to analyse water flows and drive.
In 2025, LWC went additional through deploying a robot pipeline inspection instrument evolved with Konsadem Pals and McAlpha Inc. The generation is designed to spot corrosion, cracks, blockages and doable leak issues. The ensuing knowledge has been used to tell rehabilitation priorities in spaces together with Ishasi, Apapa, Magodo, Alexander and Isolo.
The importance of this intervention is that it strikes infrastructure control from guesswork against data-driven decision-making.
Opening the PPP door
Any other element of the method is the Company’s try to leverage deepest capital and experience with out surrendering govt possession of its water belongings.
LWC evolved its 2025–2030 Strategic Trade Plan, unveiled in December 2024, with 12 precedence objectives and a costed implementation agenda.
The priorities come with rehabilitation of primary remedy crops and trunk mains, finishing touch of Adiyan II, recovery of chronic infrastructure, rehabilitation of 16 mini and micro waterworks, workforce construction and advanced buyer engagement.
The Company additionally established a public-private partnership framework for seven pilot schemes masking Lekki, Akilo, Victoria Island Annex, Magodo, Abesan, Alexander and Apapa. Following stakeholder engagement in August 2025, formal invites for bids have been issued.
The proposed type keeps govt possession of the belongings whilst introducing deepest financing and operational experience.
At a workforce engagement at the proposed PPP programme, Mukhtaar Tijani articulated his ambition succinctly: “My imaginative and prescient is to look the waterworks alive.” He additionally spoke of the target of enabling citizens to enjoy functioning water provide of their communities.
Construction for the long run
The Company’s present course more and more extends past repairing what is damaged to getting ready for long run calls for. That incorporates climate-smart infrastructure, advanced community intelligence, virtual buyer programs, more potent partnerships and new financing fashions.
As Lagos State’s inhabitants grows, the water call for continues to extend, making it essential to enlarge infrastructure to stay tempo. In reaction, the Company is growing a grasp plan to steer its efforts to near the space between water provide and insist.
The plan is being designed as a roadmap masking the fast time period, from 2026 to 2030; the medium time period, from 2031 to 2040; and the long run, from 2041 onwards.
Via this way, the Company targets to put present rehabilitation efforts inside of a much wider plan for assembly the state’s long run water wishes, linking the recovery of current amenities with the infrastructure growth required to serve a rising inhabitants.
From restoration to resilience
In all probability essentially the most revealing measure of Mukhtaar Tijani’s paintings is the breadth of the time table. The target is now not merely to revive particular person waterworks. It’s to create a application in a position to generating, distributing, metering, and managing water extra successfully, whilst attracting technical experience and funding.
The Company’s partnerships involving WaterAid, JICA, the Resilient Water Accelerator, Suez and different technical and funding companions proceed to offer a part of the institutional backing for the reforms. But, without equal measure of any water application stays easy: whether or not citizens can activate a faucet and obtain protected, dependable water.
For this reason the importance of the reforms at Lagos Water Company lies now not most effective within the collection of tasks introduced or amenities rehabilitated, however within the try to reconnect infrastructure funding with on a regular basis carrier shipping.
The adventure isn’t whole. Some tasks stay underneath building, some advantages are nonetheless projected, and several other infrastructure investments are at procurement or implementation levels. However the report since 2023 presentations an establishment pursuing trade on more than one fronts, from dormant waterworks and getting old pumps to virtual mapping, workforce restructuring, private-sector partnerships and weather resilience.
For a town that doesn’t sleep, whose inhabitants and water call for proceed to enlarge, that institutional rebuilding would possibly in the end end up as necessary as any unmarried waterworks. The duty forward is to show the momentum into sustained, measurable and loyal water provide for extra Lagos citizens.
As Tijani places it, the ambition is easy: to deliver the waterworks again to existence and be sure that the Company’s transformation in the end interprets into dependable water provide for the folks it used to be established to serve.