Of the three basic necessities of life; water, food and shelter, water is the most paramount as no human or animal can do without it. In fact, water has no alternative, it is very essential in life.
Unfortunately, shortage of water has continued to hit many states across the nation. Successive governments at the federal and state levels have failed to provide the citizenry with sufficient potable water.
As a result, some countrymen consume unhealthy water as they fetch it from bad or unhygienic sources; streams, boreholes and traditional wells that are not pure.
In Misau local government area of Bauchi state, for example, the citizens are in critical condition over the shortage of drinkable water which makes life uncomfortable and unbearable.
Perhaps, worried by the scarcity of water in the area, some concerned elite and elders developed interests to arrest the problem by doing anything in their power to tackle the matter.
Among them was the Late Dr Maikanti Kachalla Baru, the former Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), who wholeheartedly took the issue and successfully delivered it to his corporation in 2018.
Interestingly, NNPC donated over N1 billion as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the construction, execution, and commissioning of water project in the local government area in order to ease the situation.
The project was executed as planned and the water was accessible to everyone in the town.
The era of “Ga ruwa” (wheel barrow water vendors) that sell water in jerrycans was finally over and bygone following the NNPC’s intervention then.
However, in early 2020, the availability of water started diminishing in many water stations. For example, water meant for ward A was subsequently supplied in very small quantity and sometimes the supply is not regular. That kept happening in other wards as well.
In 2021, many wards stopped getting water supply until after two weeks and some for a longer time. As of present, there is no water in any ward and the “Ga Ruwa” are happily coming back to the town. This is due to lack of sustenance and maintenance of the NNPC water project. I believe that it is a collective responsibility of the community and local government authorities to sustain the project.
The situation has become worrisome and citizens are complaining bitterly in the local government area. We are suffering beyond expectations due to the water scarcity. The water system is there but there is no water.
This makes it necessary for me to ask a lot of questions. Who is to blame for the lack of water? Was the NNPC project substandard? Are the equipment not qualitative, or is it the local government authorities or the emirate council faults?
I therefore want to throw a serious challenge on behalf of the good people of Misau to the stakeholders to do everything possible to remedy the situation. They should embark on projects that will address water scarcity in Misau.
It is pertinent to note that I will not relent in reminding the stakeholders, government officials and other concerned citizens to work in synergy to end the shortage of water in Misau local government area of Bauchi state with a view to making life more comfortable, adaptable, and bearable.
Comrade Muhammad Maigana,Misau, Bauchi state[email protected]
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