Lokoja residents decry acute water scarcity
IT is usually assumed that water is cheaper than petrol, but in some states, a litre of fuel is actually cheaper than same quantity of water. One of the states worse hit with the scarcity of this very essential life giver is Kogi State. It is strange that water would be acutely scarce in the confluence city of Lokoja, where River Niger and River Benue meets.

Besides the hardship civil servants in the state have been subjected to for four months of non-payment of salaries, residents of Lokoja, the state capital, have been experiencing severe hardship due to water scarcity.

For upward of four weeks, the taps have dried up, not only because workers are on industrial action, but also due to serious economic crunch that has hit the outgoing administration of Governor Idris Wada, who long before the election held last year, strived in vain to secure the state’s bailout fund from the Federal Government.

Many residents are, however, getting the much sought after commodity due to the benevolence of a few neighbours, privileged to have boreholes. They trek for many kilometers in search of borehole, while others fetch directly from River Niger, not minding its unhygienic components.

Meimuna Suleiman told The Guardian that houses of the privileged borehole owners have become a Mecca in recent times, as residents get to the tap as early as 5am to meet a long queue and jam-packed atmosphere.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other affiliate unions in the state had since December 23, 2015, embarked on an indefinite strike to demand payments of the over three months salaries owed workers. This had forced many workers to stay away from work, even those on essential services. The strike action has paralyzed socio-economic activities in the state, including supply of water to members of the public.

Workers at the Lokoja Greater Water Works, who were still going to work to supply water to critical parts of the state, were chased away by the NLC task force.

Cross section of residents who spoke on the situation said they now depend on water sourced from well, water vendors and other unhygienic sources to meet their daily needs.

A resident of Gadumo, Mrs. Ufedo Enyoojo, said her children who are willing to assist her, have to go to school leaving only her to face the hurdle of fetching unclean water from neighborhood wells, while depending on bags of sachet water for their drinking and dietary needs. She appealed to the state government to urgently intervene in the situation and ensure water is restored without further delay.

Another resident from Karaworo, Muhammed Abdullahi, said people of the area trek long distances to Cemetery area to fetch water. He appealed to the incoming government to address the water problem facing them permanently.

The Guardian has also observed that the strike action has impacted negatively on the environmental condition of the state, as many parts of Lokoja is now dotted with heaps of un-cleared refuse, coupled with its attendant health hazards.‎

Meanwhile, the state government has set up a committee to dialogue with the labour leaders with a view to finding an end to the ongoing industrial action, which is taking its hard toll on the wellbeing of citizens.

The outgoing governor, Idris Wada, in response to a question on the water situation during his recent valedictory press conference, explained that the challenge were of two folds: “one is the epileptic power supply and the other is lack of funds to meet up with the requirements.

“We have two sets of 1000KVA generating sets for the Greater Kogi Water projects. It is very expensive to run generators 24 hours a day since power supply is very low. We have been doing all within our power to impress it on PHCN and Abuja DISCO to step down some of the power from Geregu for us in the state, but they said it is meant to serve Abuja, hence the reason we are suffering in the midst of plenty.”

The governor indicated that it was his vision to go into bilateral arrangement for power generation if he had secured a second term in office. “We are trying to make arrangement for meters to be installed so that people can pay for the water they consume, because people have not been paying for water in Lokoja.”