The evolvement processes of water laws in Nigeria, as well as their efficiency in the sustenance of
surface water resources, were studied. A cursory look was also taken into the mode of access to
water resources by households in Nigeria. This was done vis-à-vis the governmental effort at
providing potable water for its teeming population as well as the Land Use Act of 1978, which vests
absolute control and ownership of all water resources, ground and surface, in the land owner. About
47 million Nigerians still rely, exclusively, on surface water sources to meet their domestic needs.
Yet, pollution discharge into the surface water by individuals and industries go on unmitigated,
unregulated, and unpunished due to weaknesses in the existing laws. The involvement of the
scientific community in the regular calibration and monitoring of surface water quality as a tool for
managing the surface and groundwater resources, among other things, would be an advantageous
tool for curbing the pollution menace.