Nigeria joined the rest of the world at the weekend to celebrate the World Water Day declared by the United Nations. For more than 20 years, countries across the globe have observed World Water Day on March 22 to draw attention to the precious nature of the world’s water supply.
However, the focus was on water-energy nexus. It also tilted towards addressing inequities, especially for the ‘bottom billion’ that live in slums and impoverished rural areas and survive without access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, sufficient food and energy services.
The Federal Capital Territory Water Board is the sole agency charged with the responsibility of producing and supplying potable water in the FCT. The board is faced with the challenge of making potable water accessible to the teeming residents of the city centre, satellite towns and over 800 communities.
In many rural communities, however, accessing potable water poses a herculean task as residents resort to streams and other unhygienic sources of water due to the unavailability of potable water.
The FCT Water Board in its distribution network, has eight storage tanks, located in different parts of the city and several trunk lines criss crossing the city. The rural settlements are served via a network of boreholes and Solar Pedal FLO water schemes.
In many rural communities in the FCT visited by Aso Chronicle, only handful can boast of potable water as many rely on streams or other unhygienic sources. Disheartening, there are boreholes, but such boreholes serve more as a decoration than sources of water. In Shishipe, a community in Bwari Area Council, when Aso Chronicle visited, there are many water outlets spread within the community connected to an overhead tank at the centre of the community yet, the residents share stream with animals. The main water source was said to have been vandalised by unknown people, according to the residents.
Similarly, in various communities, children play with the motorised boreholes as toys while in other communities, it is secured with chain to prevent any further damage.
While it cannot be said that the government is not making effort to make water available as exemplified in Hulumi, Kilankwa, Ibwa and other communities, more is, however, expected to be done to provide people with safe water.
In Gwako, Gwagwalada Area Council, there are about three motorised boreholes but, according to the community head, Alidu Pada Gwako: “Should we have five boreholes, it would not be enough.”
He said the people residing in the community are over 5,000, calling on the government to complete a water project with the overhead tank in the community.
While some communities have boreholes and other sources of safe drinking water, several communities still drink from the stream. Zamuwowosayi Gimba, is the community head of Kuchiko Bwari, Bwari Area Council, he said the residents have been drinking from the stream for a long time.
He said: “We only dug a well, recently and the water is not safe for drinking, though it’s better than the stream.”
However, he admitted that the inhabitants in the community are less than 1,000. Should the number of inhabitants be a determinant in the provision of potable water?
But, if Kuchiko Bwari is far from a river or a dam, Kogo, in the same area council, is not far from Usuma Dam, a homogenous earth-filled Dam with a reservoir capacity of 100 million m3 that supplies water to the city centre, yet people there still buy water. In fact, the water pipes that pass through the community threaten some of its infrastructures, disclosed Samuel Gimba, the community’s head.
In Tunga Kano, AMAC, the quest for water sometimes strains the relationship between the residents and Fulani herdsmen, who take turn to use the stream in the community, said Usman Kano, the community’s head.
In Iddo Sabo, as stated by Alekale Magaji, the community’s head, residents spend about N300, daily, on safe drinking water due to their failure to get water from the local well.
Alhaji Abubakar Sulaiman, is the community head of Ibwa, Gwagwalada Area Council, he said: “There are three operational motorised boreholes with four not working, serving about 7,000 residents. As such, residents use the stream water for domestic purposes or boil before drinking while some buy sachet water.”
Lack of safe drinking water has been the challenge residents of Gumanyi, Kabbi ward in Kuje Area Council still grapple with, as according to the commnity’s head, Solomon Etsu, women always search for water from a pond.
The residents of Paipe, Jiwa ward, AMAC, are not so lucky said Yilala Danladi as the community is without safe drinking water until it recently got a borehole. Danladi said the community maintains the lone potable water source by selling water at a cheap price in order to fuel the generator used in pumping the water and address other challenges.
Gofidna residents, according to Jeremiah Kaura, rely on a borehole sank for the primary school in the community, and three communities take turn, on a daily rotational policy, to fetch water.
Considering the importance of realising the Millennium Development Goals, there is need for the government to intensify its effort in proving safe drinking water to all and sundry.
The Director of the FCT Water Board, Engr. Jiniya Bidda Anto, recently, while addressing newsmen in Abuja, said the issue of inaccessibility of water supply would soon be a thing of the past with the commitment of the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed and the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Singaporean investors in ensuring the use of modern technology.
He said: “Initially we thought of getting water from Usuma Dam straight to Abaji, now we see that is not cost effective, so we now discovered River Robo, by the time we dam the river, it will not only supply water to part of Abuja but also provide electricity to Abaji and the rest. With respect to Kuje, the preliminary design has already been done with the assistance of the World Bank.”
He recognised the importance of potable water, saying “water is life, if you give person adequate water you have taken, at least, 75 percent of diseases.”
He added that the minister has awarded contract for the extension of water supply.
He said: “Phases three and four as at now, are only operating at 40 percent, unlike phase one and two which have the capacity to produce 5,000 cubic litres per hour, the phase three and four have the capacity to produce 10,000 cubic litre each. It is operating at 40 percent which if the pipes are laid, it would help in water generation, and the laying of the pipes is on-going.”
There is need for the government and various council bosses to intensify efforts in the provision of safe drinking water to several rural communities as unsafe drinking water has led to the outbreaks of diseases with strong likelihood for unconfirmed deaths.
The ability of the government to see that most of the communities are with potable water would go a long way in ensuring that there is a high proportion of the population of the FCT dwellers with access to improved water source by 2015 as stated in the MDGs.
