Abstract Nigeria, like other countries in the world, competes for available water resources due to the increasing demands for the resource as a result of agricultural and other industrial activities. Nigeria’s current National Water Policy 2017 is vague regarding the enforcement of the right to water, with an absence of institutions to actualise same. The provisions under chapter II of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 does not provide a justiciable cushion for the actualisation of this right. This paper examines the reality of the right to water in Nigeria, using South African policy as a model. It interrogates the feasibility of existing policy on water in Nigeria against the backdrop of the South African right to water, which is justiciable and hailed as one of the most proactive in water legislation around the world. The paper concludes with recommendations on the justifications for the right to water in Nigeria, advocating systematic engagements with government and community stakeholders as a key driver towards achieving sustainability and entrenchment of the right to water in Nigeria.

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为尼日利亚的水权辩护：小说还是可以实现的灵丹妙药？

摘要尼日利亚与世界其他国家一样，由于农业和其他工业活动对水资源的需求不断增加，因此也在争夺可用水资源。尼日利亚当前的《 2017年国家水政策》在水权的执行方面含糊其词，而缺乏实施该制度的机构。1999年《尼日利亚联邦共和国宪法》第二章的规定并未为实现这一权利提供可辩护的缓冲。本文以南非政策为模型，考察了尼日利亚水权的现实。在南非获得水权的背景下，它质疑尼日利亚现有水政策的可行性，南非的水权是可辩驳的，被誉为是世界上最积极的水立法之一。