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1A Sulu Gambari Road Responsibilities
Achievements
Over the years, water supply in the state has consistently been faced with some daunting challenges. Inadequate or none existent pottable water supply have differently been a seasonal problem of the rural areas.
 Laying of pipes at the Olorunsogo Area, Ilorin
 Heavy truck loading pipes to different areas in Ilorin
What the people say about the Governor Bukola Saraki-led administration's effort on Water Supply in Kwara State (From Compass Newspaper) Water, water, water everywhere has never been a play song for the average resident of Kwara State. At least, not until very recently. Water, a chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen is vital for all known forms of life. Unfortunately, it is not always readily available. Thisapplies to practically everywhere the world over. The song has however changed in Kwara State. To get to this level, the administration of Governor Bukola Saraki, according to the Water Resouces Commissioner, Dr Abubakre Amuda-Kannike, had shortly after inception swung into action. The government, Amuda-Kannike explained, embarked on short, medium and long term plans. Part of the plans is first to sink boreholes and erect distribution points where water could be got by the populace both rural and urban. He said that for now the target is, there would be a water point every 500 metres in the rural areas. To this end, three boreholes are sunk in every political ward. There are two forms of borehole provided for the Kwara rural resident: the manually powered and the motorised. Kaba is a village in the Moro Local Government Area of the state. The community is majorly agrarian. It is surrounded by about six other settlements: Irobo, Olode, Orogan , Gaa, Were, Odeajo and Kajola. The local government is particularly peculiar for its topography which has made water to be as dear as an oasis in the desert. To get water, especially in the dry season, had always been Herculean; both man and beast would struggle at a murky stream. Finally, the beast and their Fulani herdsmen won. Moved and peeved at the plight of his people, the community’s Chief Iman sunk a well. It was a fiasco; the well could not dispense enough water even after two other attempts. That, however, is now history. Now, there is a borehole in Kaba which it shares with the neighbouring communities. Ajase Ipo in the Irepodun Local Government Area of the state is another community that is very pressed for water. However, the State Government has it in mind while designing its rural water scheme. As a result of this, electronically powered boreholes were sunk in the town. One very close to the community health centre.There are other ones at Cottage and the Nomadic School The Nigerian Compass also sought the view of its inhabitants on the yet to be commissioned power driven borehole. ‘It would have been worse’ It was almost 4pm and dusk was trying hard to keep its appointment with Ajase-Ipo in the Irepodun Local Govenment Area of Kwara State. The Primary Health Centre close to the heart of the town was also expectant. The staffers of the facility were rounding off the business. Suddenly, there was commotion at a mechanic workshop sharing boundary with the health centre. Before the twinkle of an eye, a group of five men approached. Something, however, seemed queer in the manner of their approach. One of them was being led by the hand. He was Tajudeen, an automobile electrician. He had just had an occupational accident. A car battery exploded very close to where he was working. The content went directly into his eyes. Afolabi Saadu works at the Ajase Primary Health Care, he is also an ophthalmic nurse. He quickly rose to the occasion. He spoke with the Nigerian Compass after treating the 24-year-old Taju. “It would have been worse if there was no borehole. This is a clear case of chemical blast and complete irrigation must be carried out else the eyes would be totally damaged. Things are better now, water wise, in Ajase-Ipo. This time of the year used to be very difficult in this area. But now we thank God and our understanding governor that the situation is better. It is now easier to get water and not just any water but good one. “In those days around this time of the year, there were always high cases of water borne diseases like dysentery, diarrheal, typhoid and their likes. But thank God now. With the coming of the water cases like these have reduced drastically. According to Saadu, life had become easier for the residents of the part of the town since the borehole was sunk. We thank the governor for this gesture. Anything that helps prevent diseases which could turn epidemic is laudable, hence be commended. Are you aware of how people source for water before now? People around this place and workers of this hospital were making use of the well then. Even then however, the well was not enough. To even get a bucket of water then was a problem. If someone gets now the next person would have to wait for the next 12 hours before he or she gets. It was that bad. So, we were rationing water then for most of our needs especially as this place is a health centre.But with this overhead tank, relief has come not to the clinic alone but to the whole people living in this area. ‘Our trouble is over’ Abudu Baaki Mogaji is the head of Kaba. Before the advent of this water borehole we were sourcing water from a stream about two miles from this place. We were sharing the stream with cows which the Fulani would rear to the place. Even now, the water had been taken over completely by the cows and the Fulani. It was when the crisis became acute that the Imam of the community sunk a well. Unfortunately, this did not do much as we could not get water from it. But with this borehole, we are relieved. However, the women have reported that the pipe gets stiff after some time. But we still get water. We thank God and Governor Saraki. ‘Stream water now undrinkable’ Muniratu Abdubakre is also a farmer. She plants maize, tomatoes and pepper. “Water has always been a problem to this community. We only have reprieve during the rainy season. The dry season is almost always unbearable. But when the borehole was sunk, we felt some relief. Though it is not totally solved, our water problem has been addressed by Governor Bukola Saraki. We thank him for remembering us. The stream we used to get water from is now totally useless. No human can drink from it now. It has been taken over entirely by the Fulani and their cattle. ‘The stress is over’ Alfa Amidu: I am from Odeajo. It is one of the communities that fetch water from this borehole. We thank the current administration of the state for providing this borehole which in turn has lessened our suffering in getting water. Before this borehole and when the suffering was getting unbearable, the Chief Imam of Kaba sank a well for us. Unfortunately the well could not provide us with much water. And not until this borehole was sunk did we start getting some relief. Asked whether the fault emanated from the sinking of the well or what, Amidu replied that the lack of sufficient water from the well came from over dependence. The inhabitants of Kaba and environ according to Amidu are not fewer than 250 people. In Odeajo alone, Amidu said they are about a hundred. He continued: “Those of us using the facility are far too many and that is what makes it inadequate. The places attached to this water pump include : Kaba, Odeajo, Olowode, Irobo, Gaa Irobo, Were and Orogan. But we still have to thank the governor for this gesture. May the Almighty Allah continue to bless. However, we still ask for more. ‘I patronised hawkers’ Princess Monsurat Alebiosu: a house wife. Before the sinking of this borehole, we had suffered a lot. After the rains in Ajase, it was always hell. We used to buy from the Hausa water hawkers. And the scarcity is usually mostly pronounced at this at this time of the year. That is when the rains had stopped and new ones are being expected. Then we used to buy trucks of water from the hawkers. A truck contains about 10 jerry cans of 50 litres each. A tuck then went for N100. Then I was buying at least two trucks of water everyday. But in the face of such arduous water scarcity as described, how were the Hausa hawkers of water getting their ware? The Hausa hawkers get their water from the Osin River. We drink water from the river because my husband is from here( Ajase) and the belief is that the water is good and it has good influence on indigenes. But since we have this borehole, we no longer drink from the Osin River. In my household we never experienced any water borne disease as I told you earlier, the water is said to have positive effects on its children. But I have heard of cases of neighbours or and their children who were diagnosed of such diseases. During those periods of crises, some people were going to as far as Ofa to get drinking water. Some were however making do with sachet water. My husband too was going to Ofa to get water for us. But we are full of praises to Governor Bukola Saraki for giving us this borehole thereby making living more bearable. ‘I sunk well for the people’ Alhaji Saadu Imam: is the chief imam of Kaba. I sunk the well because of scarcity of water. The stream we were getting water from then became very inaccessible and even undrinkable. In view of this, I commissioned the sinking of this well. It was quite expensive because it had to be done thrice. I was told that the land here is particularly difficult and water, poor hence the sinking three times over. We use it but it is still not adequate for the use of our people. We are still considering sinking another well but for the financial implication. Now we thank the governor and his people for what they have done but still wish that they give us more wells or boreholes. ‘I save N200 daily on water’ Mrs Adenike Adewara: A trader who deals in kitchen utensils, also shared her experience. Before now to get potable water, we were patronising water hawkers or the Cottage Hospital where there is another borehole. In the scarcity days I was buying at least a truck load, that is, 10 jerry cans of 50 litres each daily from the water hawkers. But for the past two to three months now when the borehole has been available for us, I have stopped buying from water. This means I have been saving at least N200 daily on water. Initially the taste was heavy but we were made to realise that it was because of its newness and that it would become better. Now it is tasteless and nice to drink. This borehole has actually made life easier for us in this section of Ajase and even from farther places. When there is scarcity people come from afar looking for water and they have been coming to this place too. ‘We have suffered’ Saheed is an indigene of Ora near Igbaja but works as a welder in Ajase Ipo. As a welder I use water in the course of my work. Before this borehole was sunk here, it was quite difficult to get water especially during the dry season. As a result of this I used to ration the water I use. Then to get water I either bought or went to the Osin river which is quite a distance from this place. I have been on my own now for four years. Now, we do not manage water again as it is readily available to us. When we close for the day we still fetch water for birth. Generally, things are much easier now in terms of water and we thank our governor for this. Before, we used to buy from the water hawkers and with them a keg goes for N10. And this is Osin water that foams and is not generally used for drinking and cooking. I am not an indigene of this town but I have spent close to 20 years here. We had suffered a lot in the past for water especially in the dry seasons. But we thank God and also our governor that our sufferings have come to and. ‘It’s easier to get water now’ Yusuff Mohammed: a water hawker also spoke. The water here is good. I come here every day to fetch and sell. It is not everybody who can come here, so I still sell water to those who for one reason or the other cannot come on their own to fetch the water. Before the sinking of this borehole I used to go to the Osin River for water to sell. But since this one has come I do not go there anymore. I come here every day for as many times as possible. It pays me better to fetch water from here. Firstly the water here is better and it is also easier for me to fetch. Now I have new and fewer customers. Most of my old customers no longer patronise me. They come here themselves for water. It is only the few ones who cannot come and some new ones that I sell to. No, I do not pay any money to anybody before I fetch water. I thank God and the government for making my job to be easier now. The river is very far and the water not as clean. ‘Water used to be very scarce’ Mrs. Alice Ayodiji Jolayemi: “There was scarcity of water before the coming of this motorised borehole. There was no pipe borne water in the town so the people were suffering a lot before they got water to drink. Then, they would go to streams or water hawkers whose source one was not really sure of to get water. But now, glory be to God, those days are over. Despite the fact that this place has not been officially commissioned, we have been drinking from it for the past three months and we are already used to it. It is now as if we have never suffered water shortage. I have quite a large family so we make use of a lot of water especially at the weekends when we always wash and do the general cleaning. On days like that we use around 20 buckets of water. ‘It is our sole source of water’ Ajaratu Yahaya I am a farmer. We come here for water every other day. And what we do is to rotate it within the co-habiting communities. Before going to the farm, we fetch the one that we will drink. When we come back in the evening we would need water too hence we go to the borehole also. We do not use irrigation for farming here. We only rely on the rain. This is our sole source of water. The river we used to rely on before had been completely taken over by the Fulani and their cattle. The fetching from the borehole by the communities is organised in a way that it will afford each settlement to get more water and for peaceful co-existence. Each community has access to the water every other day. It is essential, says Amuda-Kannike water is very basic to life and Governor Bukola Saraki realises that the core component of the dividends of democracy is the availability of water to the populace. It was a major campaign point to make sure that light, water, education and of course health facilities are easily accessible to the populace. A lot of people are not looking for too much from the government. They just want supportive infrastructure to make life meaningful and convenient. And water plays a very prominent role in this. So that is why he finds it so cardinal to make sure that water is available and accessible by the populace. In fact there is a target of making sure that within every 500 metres one would have access to water within the state.and that is what we have been trying to do with the Rural Water Scheme. How many communities do you have in mind and how many has been covered? The state has three senatorial districts. His Excellency is drilling three boreholes per ward. The entire Kwara North has been done and covered. The entire Kwara South too has been done. The focus now is on Kwara Central. Out of the 16 local governments in the state Kwara Central has four. This means that we have done 12 local governments. Now in the Central they are just about finishing Asa and Ilorin East. So what is left that we will be doing now are Ilorin West and Ilorin South. This providing of water through boreholes is for the rural areas. For the core town, the central town of Ilorin, which comprises of five local governments, we have the mega water project that is affiliated to the Asa dam, Agba dam and Sobi dam. They have already finished the construction of new high lift pressure pump and each of them will pump about 1,400 cubic litres of water and we have six already installed. We are now doing new reticulation lines. The last reticulation that was done by any administration was done in 1976 and ordinarily by standard reticulation should be done every 10 years. Now the government has taken up the challenge and already has signed a contract of about 6.5 billion naira to ensure that entirely new reticulation lines are laid that will support the kind of volume of water and pressure that will come from the newly installed high lift pumps. Thursday, 13 May 2010 00:00 Nigerian Compass
Summary of Achievements
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