From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Residents of Kaduna State are lamenting water scarcity due to 65 per cent water dry zones in the urban setting as well as dry wells, rivulets and rivers that serve as major sources of water for semi-urban and rural residents usually between November and April.
The development has now reached an alarming rate, where pregnant women, mothers and children walk several kilometres, crossing highways and queuing for hours before getting water for family use.
With a population of about 10 million people, 80 per cent of whom are agrarian and artisans, Kaduna, the third most densely populated Nigerian state after Lagos and Kano, is the political melting pot of northern Nigeria. Thus, it experiences huge rural-urban migration daily with a sizeable number of these migrants settling down and raising families at a geometric rate.
According to the coordinator of Society for Water and Sanitation in Kaduna State, Kuzasuwat Ishaya Peter, over 65 per cent of areas like Rigasa, Television, Ungwan Romi, most parts of Ungwan Rimi, Ungwan Sarki, Mando, Gabasawa, Kawo and Ungwan Baro that used to have water are now dry.
When this correspondent visited some of the communities, especially those without access to water sellers known as ‘mairuwa’, some locals were seen roaming the streets in search of clean and safe water with containers on their heads, while some were on the queue to get water from a private residence.
A commercial grinding machine operator in Dan-Mazani, Angwan Baro, Chikun LGA of the state, who was simply identified as Mama Mainika, lamented: “We are now at the mercy of our neighbour. We have public water pipes but no supply for months now.”
Another resident who spoke in confidence said: “The water corporation is not giving us water like before. And now, no electricity to pump water from our neighbours who have boreholes in their houses. The well in my compound is dry. So, I had to pack my children to come to this school to hustle for water when I learnt their borehole is solar-powered. Funny enough, my husband has also gone out to queue for fuel at the filling station.
“And you know, we are exposed to security risk but we have no option because there is no how we can live without water. We can cope a bit without fuel or electricity but there is no how we can survive without water. We have never had it this bad.”
However, the Kaduna State Water Corporation said it was supplying four million litres of treated water per day, though about half of this gets wasted in transit due to leakages and relocation of pipes as ongoing urban renewal projects in Kaduna linger.
Managing director, Kaduna Water Corporation, Sanusih Maikudi, blamed the inability of the corporation to supply enough water to residents on obsolete equipment and population explosion.
He said: “We were founded in 1930. Most of the fibres we are using have 40 years lifespan and extra 10 years, meaning they are to serve a maximum of 50 years. So, if this equipment was procured in 1930, by 1980 it should have been replaced. Between 1980 and 2022, we have arears of 42 years.
“Again, we have the problem of inadequate power supply. We need energy to work and to switch to solar energy, the initial cost of investment in it is very large.
“Then there is a demographic explosion in Nigeria. When I was in secondary school a few decades ago, Nigeria’s population was about 80 million. Now, we are talking of about 200 million.
“Again, people don’t have value for water. But this is funny because you cannot do anything without water. You cannot do agriculture without water. You cannot do education or infrastructure without water. You cannot do industrialisation without water, yet people give it low value.
“We need between N300 to N400 million monthly. Power takes about N150 million. Staff need about N80 million. Water treatment chemical needs about N80 million. And then, we have to do repairs and maintenance. The government paid us up to January. Now they said we should sell water to pay our salaries.”
On what the corporation is doing to solve the water problem in the state, he said: “The new population of Kaduna and infrastructure were assessed and it was discovered that, for us to do justice in water supply, the Federal Government needs to build a new dam and the site has been identified at Itisi village in Kajuru LGA. The name of the project is Greater Kaduna Metropolitan Water Expansion and Sanitation Project.”
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