The struggles to practise sustainable construction are not gaining the desired traction in Nigeria. This study established the likely barriers to successful application of sustainable construction in the Nigeria construction industry and factors to overcome the possible barriers. A quantitative approach was used for the study and a questionnaire survey was conducted among the professionals and other stakeholders. A descriptive method was used in analysing the collected data. Among the highly ranked sustainability barriers to construction practice are poor sustainability education in academic institutions, lack of incentives for designers to facilitate sustainable design, ignorance of lifecycle cost benefits, sustainable construction regarded as low priority and other issues take priority, and resistance to cultural change in the industry. The research recommends adequate sustainability education in academic institutions to positively impact the required cultural change in the industry. There is call for proper government policies that support implementation of sustainable construction practices. The study also advances the need for construction professionals and stakeholders to embrace the concept of sustainability education through continuing professional development and or postgraduate studies to improve the thinking and practicability of sustainable practice of construction in Nigeria.

No abstract

Water is an indispensable natural resource, which, apart from its importance in the industrial sector, is mostly used by women at the domestic level everywhere, particularly in Africa. While industrialisation has made quality potable water accessible to women in cities and urban areas, this is unfortunately not the case in rural areas and thus poses a major challenge to the realisation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria. In cities and urban areas, people have managed to establish reliable water sources through boreholes, for example, while rural dwellers are still dependent on government intervention, philanthropies and non-governmental organisations to be able to have access to water of adequate quality. Considering the geographic location of South Africa, its peculiar water problem could be expected to be worse than in Nigeria. On the contrary, the South African government's involvement in water-renewable techniques and other strategies in making quality water available to all its citizens differs from the situation in Nigeria. This article illustrates that the right to water as a natural resource, to which citizens are entitled as a component of the right to development, is anchored in law. To ensure the realisation of this right, we draw inspiration from academic and industrial approaches and water-renewable techniques for development, improvement, and implementation in South Africa to suggest ways for Nigeria to improve on its water strategy.