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Tag: Water Supply

  • UNICAL students protest over lack of electricity, water supply

    UNICAL students protest over lack of electricity, water supply

    Wevole Ezin.

    Sudents of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) have protested over lack of electricity and water supply.

    The malabites and malabreses at the early hours of today took to the hostel halls at the Malabor Republic, chanting solidarity songs to express their displeasure and frustration over lack of electricity and water.

    While addressing the angry students, the Governor General of Malabor Sen. Livinson Arikpo, and the Spiritual Head of Malabor, simply known as Mathias said they shared in their challenges and concerns.

    Arikpo said, “We understand the difficulties you are facing, and I assure you that we are working tirelessly to resolve the issues,” Arikpo said.

    He urged the protesters to remain calm and peaceful, assuring them that their grievances would be addressed promptly.

    “We feel your pain, and we are committed to finding a lasting solution to these challenges,” Matthias said.

    The protesters, however, demanded a specific timeline for the restoration of amenities, vowing to continue their agitation until their demands are met.

    The Malabor Republic has been plagued by infrastructure challenges in recent times, with residents lamenting the lack of basic services.

    When contacted, the UNICAL Public Relations Officer, Mr. Eyo Eyo, said that the Vice Chancellor, Prof Florence Obi has addressed the protesting students with a promise to address their issues.

    He said, ” it was a couple of students who have issue with water, they came out this morning and said they have not gotten water for two days and again, apart from the water, there is this outage issue, the Portharcout Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) stationed very close to us here have an issue that is affecting the university and even the entire area so I think it’s a fider issue, so there is no power on that particular rider feeding this area.

    “The VC came and addressed them, she said the management will provide generator for them to pump water for the time being, so the issue has been resolved and the students have gone back to their hostels.” The PRO stated.

    However, It would be recalled that in July 1, 2024, Law Students and Staff of the institution also protested over insecurity and poor welfare. And in 2023, the students protested against the management over school fees increment.

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  • Efficient municipal water supply, panacea to borehole proliferation – Adamu

    Efficient municipal water supply, panacea to borehole proliferation – Adamu

    The Minister of Water Resources, Malam Suleiman Adamu, says one of the most important ways to tackle proliferation of boreholes in Nigeria is to put in place efficient municipal water supply system.

    Adamu also called for standard regulations to reduce the proliferation of boreholes.

    The minister who was answering questions as a guest on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja on Sunday said efficient municipal water supply is essential.

    “If there is efficient municipal supply, if the water supply schemes, and all urban schemes are working, there will be no need to drill boreholes.

    “You can take delivery of water through your pipe into your house regularly and efficiently, then there is no reason for anybody to have a borehole,” Adamu added.

    He said the enforcing standard regulations was not meant to stifle but to regulate the activities of borehole drillers.

    The minister said that when regulations were in place, licenses could be issued to ascertain how much water was being abstracted.

    Adamu explained that there is bound to be “interference” in a situation whereby everybody was drilling a borehole at his backyard in a small building.

    “If they are running these boreholes at the same time, there will be interference and one borehole will dry up for the other to have water.

    “If one pump is more powerful than the other one, the other one will not get the water. So you have wasted your investment,” he said.

    Adamu said what is needed is to get an independent credible regulator to support urban water.

    “What we need is for states to support, and maybe subsequently, when we get a credible and independent regulator, then the private sector can come in and support urban water provision.

    “Once we improve on the delivery of water supply in the urban centers, then that will be fine,” he said.

    Adamu said that rural areas, due to their economy of scale and small population, did not need more than a borehole or an open well.

    He said that even in some developed countries, there are still rural communities where they don’t have pipe borne water

    “It doesn’t mean that every village must have pipe borne water but what is important is that they must have potable water.

    “If it’s a well, let it be protected, because groundwater, if there isn’t any underground contamination, is usually a good source of water.

    “It was only when I became a minister that I started hearing of industrial boreholes. But, now I understand industrial boreholes. We have so many bottling and beverage companies having 8 to 12 diameters of boreholes,” Adamu said.

    He accused the companies of taking water as if it is an underground river adding that they are mining the water because they are taking it at the expense of individual Nigerians.

    “Probably what we need is not more than 2,000 to 3,000 gallons a day, maybe they take 50, 100 and 200 million gallons a day and that is not acceptable, that is why it has to be regulated.

    “People that are taking water for commercial purposes, they are making money out of it, and they are depriving, they are depleting the resource.

    “So, there ought to be a penalty and everywhere in the world, this happens,” the minister said.

    Adamu said one of the false narratives being put forward on the National Water Resources Bill is that the Federal Government is going to take control and everybody must come to Federal Government to drill a borehole.

    “The same way that state government gives planning approval for houses, they should handle the issue of approving boreholes.

    “We have the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency in this country, which is responsible for monitoring and managing our surface and ground water resources.

    “But nobody can tell you the number of boreholes that exist in this country. So, we don’t even know how we’re abstracting the water,” he said.

    Adamu expressed the hope that at least Nigeria could have a standard regulation on how such water was sold and licenses could be issued to know how much water was being abstracted.

    “We are protecting the water, making it available for everybody so that there is equitable distribution, and that at the end of the day, we have enough to leave for our children and grandchildren as well.

    “What are we leaving for our children if we don’t monitor and manage this groundwater?,” he asked.

  • FCT communities lament lack of potable water, seek intervention

    FCT communities lament lack of potable water, seek intervention

    Despite the enormous annual budgetary allocations by the government for portable water supply, residents in and around the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are in the pain of getting clean water for household use and drinking.

    Concerned by the lack of potable water in some communities within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, residents and stakeholders have called on the government at all levels and relevant authorities to intervene urgently.

    The outcry is coming on the heels of a recent investigation by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), which exposed that residents of Ike Bassa and Ike Ninzo in Kwali Area Council; and the Zokutu community in Kuje Area Council are drinking contaminated water from shallow-dug holes and caves.

    A resident of Ike Ninzo community, Mohammed Aliyu, laid bare the community’s plight during an anti-corruption radio programme, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja.

    During the programme, Chief Executive Officer at Washmata Initiative, Dr. Boluwaji Onabolu, called on relevant authorities to urgently wade into the water emergency in the affected FCT communities to avoid the health consequences of people using contaminated water.

    Onabolu, who noted that the government has a statutory responsibility to provide safe water, called on the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to develop a vulnerability risk assessment as part of the strategy used by state governments and the area councils in providing water to citizens.

    She stressed the need for more motorized boreholes to be provided in FCT communities groaning under lack of access to potable water and tasked the FCT Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) with adopting a systemic approach to ensuring the most vulnerable communities are reached.

    “FCT RUWASSA needs to use a systematic approach called a vulnerability risk assessment to do a rapid assessment and know the most vulnerable, leave no one behind and prioritize those people.

    Onabolu harped on the sustainability of motorized boreholes and stated, “In several communities in Abuja, motorized boreholes have been provided, but for some reason, these boreholes have broken down.

    “So every institution that provides water should not provide water without leaving tools and training behind to ensure that the communities can also operate and maintain this water,” She advised.

    Earlier, Mohammed Aliyu described the water situation in his community as “very pathetic,” revealing that the whole community gets their water from just one pond, which animals also share.

    He stated that there is no government presence in the community as not even a single motorized borehole was provided in the community over the years. He called on government and non-governmental organizations to speedily come to their rescue.

    “Ike community faces a serious problem because we don’t have potable drinking water. The members of the community drink from a river, and it is the same place where animals drink water from.

    “In most cases, the water is always contaminated. You should imagine the situation of animals going there to drink at any time. So, people fall sick in this community because of the lack of this potable drinking water.”

    Aliyu disclosed that several efforts by residents of Ike Ninzo to have Kwali Area Council and their representative at the National Assembly intervene in getting them boreholes over the years had been fruitless.

    “We are pleading with not only the government, even non-governmental organizations that can come to our aid, but we will also highly welcome them,” He stated.

    A journalist with ICIR, Ijeoma Opara, who conducted the investigation, revealed that poverty and unavailability of water in the communities made the residents of Ike Bassa and Zokutu source their water from caves and unhealthy ponds.

    According to Opara, the investigation further exposed the government’s inability to provide potable water. Hence the residents had to resort to crude and unhealthy means of getting water by digging shallow holes.

    She called on residents of the communities in FCT lacking access to potable water to be relentless in demanding that their basic needs and rights be provided by their leaders and representatives.

    “Residents need to connect with their representatives at various levels of government. They need to demand; they need to push further for these basic rights. It will be detrimental to these residents to despair at this point,” Opara warned.

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria. The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

  • APC hits Obaseki hard over ‘water supply failure’ in Edo

    APC hits Obaseki hard over ‘water supply failure’ in Edo

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the failure of Gov. Godwin Obaseki’s administration to address the water problem in the Edo Central Senatorial District and other parts of the state as unbearable and unacceptable.

    This is contained in a statement released on Sunday by the Edo APC spokesman, Mr Chris Azebanwan, and made available to newsmen.

    According to the statement, the claim by Obaseki that his administration has within the last five years focused on water supply and, hence, sees no reason for water shortage in the state, is untenable.

    The Edo governor had said there was no reason for people not to enjoy public supply of water in their homes, considering the resources his administration has so far committed.

    But Azebanwan in the statement said the party was baffled concerning the water issue.

    He said that of particular importance was the case of Edo Central, where the Federal Government, as far back as 2018, had completed and handed over the Northern Esan water supply scheme to the state government.

    “This water scheme designed to cover much of the senatorial district was estimated to have cost N3.85 billion and was supposed to generate two million gallons or nine million litres of water per day.

    “The project was initiated by the Federal Government, with expectation that in no distant time the state government would carry out the reticulation aspect of the scheme so that the people of Edo Central could have potable water.

    “In September 2019, the Edo Government publicly declared that a water reticulation project as part of the scheme, was nearing completion,” it said.

    It added that the state claimed it had concluded the training of communities to set up water associations while it planned “to meter the water from the plant”, to regulate usage and check leakages.

    It said that the party wondered why “close to three years now, no drop of water was available from this water scheme to any home in the catchment area of the project.”

    The party stalwart called on the government to admit that it had failed on that score, rather than making a further promise of how it intended to erect giant boreholes and lay pipes for the same purpose.

    “The people of the affected areas are tired of Gov. Obaseki’s promises and having suffered for too long, waiting for water.

    “The best the government can do is to take action instead of gallivanting and claiming to be inspecting the water projects.

    “There are practical options to make water available and affordable to Edo people.

    “APC is willing and ready to give Gov. Obaseki the blueprint for a viable and sustainable water supply scheme for the State,” the statement added.

  • COVID-19 Pandemic: Sokoto waives fees on water supply, reduces 2020 Budget by 25%

    The Sokoto State Government has cut its 2020 financial appropriations from N202 billion to 153 billion and waived fees on water supply to the residents for two months to cushion the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.

    The Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Abdussamad Dasuki, who made the disclosure on Friday, said the decisions were reached at the State Executive Council’s meeting on Thursday.

    According to him, he said the review of the 2020 budget was necessary in recognition of the financial downflow experienced as the result of coronavirus pandemic which is a burning issue across the world.

    “Sokoto will not be an exception, therefore, the government must look at the necessities and apply realistic measures in the situation.

    “The budget was reviewed to 25 per cent downward and it will affect all the Ministries and Departments allocations as well as other projects,” Dasuki said in a statement.

    He said that the council had revoked the contract for the construction of the Deputy Governor’s residence which was awarded to Abarma Nigeria Ltd.

    “The contract was awarded in the last two years at the cost of N484 million and the contractor was mobilised with N285 million and absconded from the job,” the commissioner said in a statement by Malam Muhammad Bello, the Special Adviser to Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State.

    Dasuki said that the contract was at 35 per cent execution stage and ministries of finance along with justice were mandated to ensure requisite action on the project.

    He said that the state executive council have adopted a committee finding and resolution on sharing of state tertiary institutions’ internally generated revenues of 60 per cent to the institutions, while 40 per cent goes to the state government coffers.

    According to him, the decision was reached over financial misappropriation observed from the institution’s activities.

    The commissioner explained that the decision was aimed at ensuring transparency.

    He said that the state government would continue to play its part on running the institutions.

    Also, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Umar Bature, said the council approved the waiver on the collection of water supply levies for civil servants and other members of the public for March and April in view of the effects of Coronavirus pandemic.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Ali Inname, said the council had approved the payment of 100 per cent hazard allowance to all health workers in the state.

    Inname said health workers on Coronavirus pandemic duty would also obtain their weekly allowances, noting that the payments would be in bulk for two months aimed at boosting their morale for increased dedication.

    According to him, those on weekly allowance were on frontline assignments on containing Coronavirus such as those screening people at border checkpoints, working at isolation centres and directly in the task force committees.

    He said that the council had also approved the inclusion of 23 local government areas of the state on the execution of International Diagnostic Center which was initially handled by the government alone.

    The Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Bajini Galadanchi, said the council approved for the valuation and payment of permanent structures to be affected by ongoing dualization of Illela-More road in the Sokoto metropolis.

  • World Bank earmarks $350m for water supply, sanitation in Nigeria

    The World Bank has said it earmarked $350 million to increase access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in rural communities and towns across Nigeria.

    The bank said this is aside the $250 million it was spending on the Third Urban Water Sector Reform Project aimed at increasing access to pipe-borne water supply schemes in urban areas.

    World Bank’s Country Director Rachid Benmessaoud spoke in Abuja, the nation’s capital, at the first national stakeholders’ consultation workshop on Nigeria’s rural WASH project hosted by the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu.

    The World Bank chief, who said Nigeria had made little progress in combating poverty due to its low human capital, added that low access to WASH services was a major reason for the poor performance.

    He said: “Nigeria has made little progress in combating poverty due to its low human capital, even in comparisons to its regional peers. Low access to water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services is a major reason for this poor performance.

    “A lack of WASH services leads to high infant mortality, takes away rights that are life-long held and reduces educational attainment, some of which in turn diminish laid down productivity.

    “Since the launch of the WASH Poverty Diagnostics, our team has provided continued support to the ministry in the development and the implementation of the action plan.

    “The $250 million third urban water sector reform project represents our latest engagement in the urban water sector. A partnership that has now spanned over 50 years to increase access to pipe-borne water supply services while increasing the investment money capacity of the participating states and improving the financial viability of the service providers.”