STUDENTS’ RESEARCH PROJECTS TACKLING WATER-RELATED ISSUES IN NIGERIA

Water is a necessity of life; problems or issues of water abound in the world, especially in developing nations, such as lack of water, little or too much water, water quality to the procurement of water for humans, livestock/agriculture and for the environment. There are not enough resources to solve or address these issues. One of the way of addressing or searching for solutions to some of these issues is through the involvement of students in research. For example, several institution’s faculties and student are involved in water-related research projects, as observed in Ghana and Nigeria for examples. The university of Ghana, Legon, has several faculties and students mapping and understanding groundwater flow paths and water qualities in various parts of Ghana. Similarly, Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria, is actively involved in studying water- related issues or problems in Nigeria. In this study, we examine some of the student’s research works at Covenant University that addresses water problems/issues through research projects.

Some of the student research work undertaken at Covenant University examine the water quality in southwest Nigeria. They investigated how groundwater quality is affected by abattoir wastes, industries, and plastics. Some of these students have continued their research, advancing to become professors, and involving their students in some of these research works and in new studies. We highlight some of these projects: an engineering approach to management and control of pollution problems stemming from industries; localized wastewater treatment water supply issues in the southwest part of Nigeria, student’s immersion in geology and engineering research projects using geophysical methods in the location and refinement of the well site in local regions. We select three specific research areas to highlight during the presentation of this paper. Involving students while finding solutions to water-related challenges is vital towards achieving the United Nation’s sustainable development goals.