African Water Development Report 2006 - United Nations Economic ...

African Water Development Report 2006Figure 7.4 Evolution of Domestic consumptionPer capital consumption/day4030201001997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002YearSource AWDR National Report, 2003Figure 7.5: Evolution of Industrial and commercial consumption76Consumption, millions m 35432101997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002YearSource AWDR National Report, 2003NigeriaThe population of Nigerian cities has increasedtremendously, especially with the steady migrationof unemployed youths from the rural areasto the major cities and towns. In the same manner,many semi- urban towns have grown intourban cities with the creation of new states andlocal governments. JICA (1995) defined citiesor urban towns as towns that have a populationof over 20,000. At independence in 1960, themajor cities in Nigeria comprised mostly of theregional capitals of Enugu, Kaduna, Ibadan andLagos as well as other subordinate urban towns.With the creation of the twelve state structuresin 1967, the number of urban cities in Nigeriarose to over 250. Considering the present 36 statecapitals, including the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), and the fact that each local governmentheadquarter has a potential to develop into a city,Nigeria, for planning purposes, could be said tohave up to 600 cities, a far cry from the estimated250 cities at independence (Table 7.12).182