By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
(C). Google.
Residents of Lokoja, capital of confluence Kogi state, north central Nigeria, have appealed to the new governor of the state,Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, to intervene by ensuring timely restoration of potable water to them.
They made the appeal in a separate interview with the correspondent of The Reporters on Monday in Lokoja, adding that it would arrest the effect of such negative development in the area.
The residents noted that most parts of the state capital had been without drinkable water close to two months running, adding that the development had brought a lot of difficulty to their social and economic activities.
According to Mallam Mohammed Abubakar, a resident of Gadumo quarters, mostly affected by the month long scarcity of water,he and other members of his family have resorted to using well water to cook and drink”as our pump stopped running water since November 2023.
“This we have been doing not minding the health risk involved, “he said.
Another resident of the same area,Miss Angela Abraham, described life without potable water as “hellish.”
“Can you imagine a situation whereby potable water suddenly becomes a golden commodity in Lokoja,a place where two great rivers in Africa;River Niger and Benue, meet and flow as one?he asked.
An operator of a car wash outfit at Gadumo,who wants his identity veiled, said he had been forced to close the outfit, as he could no longer get the public water to operate.
“Apart from being a cog in the wheel of my commercial activity and earning, the water scarcity has forced me to retrench the staff washing cars for me to earn a living,” he said.
Other users of drinkable water for commercial activities such as restaurants, recreational concerns and for domestic demands among others, also complained of the negative effects of the scarcity of potable water on them,their dependants and the larger society.
A reliable source at the State Water Board,who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, traced the scarcity of water in Lokoja to paucity of funds.
“Frankly speaking,the equipment we have at the Lokoja Greater Water can work for close to 10 years without problem.
“They are functioning effectively but the problem lies in lack of adequate funds to carryout logistics such as buying of chemicals for water treatment for public consumption.
“The board is also experiencing bureaucratic bottle necks with the attendant encumbrances.
“This has impeded the realisation of the various efforts aimed at getting the attention of the appropriate authority to release adequate funds to enable the board render the needed services to the public.
“This scarcity has also seriously affected the ability of the board to collect water bill from members of the public.
“The board is caught up in the dilemma inability to supply drinkable water to the entire public and finding the moral fibre to ask them to pay monthly bill of N1,000 for the services it is supposed to provide,”the source said.
The source disclosed that the board, however between N25 million and N30 million, as monthly subvention,to be able to supply potable water to the public.
He assured that once the board receives the needed subvention, constantly, it would bounce back to supply the public with adequate and uninterrupted potable water.
The people interviewed expressed confidence in the ability of the new governor not only to build and consoliddate on the achievements of his predecessor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello but surpass them.
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