Ogun, Lagos Communities Without Access To Clean Water

IT is no longer news that access to clean and safe water remains a major challenge, with 47 per cent of the country’s population lacking access to potable water, according to reports.

Survey has shown that most of these people live in urban slums and impoverished rural areas and survive without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

In Iga Baba Alado, a community in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State, the core source of water used to be the community stream, where their cattle also quench their thirst and other neighbouring communities, until 2012, when the local government commissioned two water projects to alleviate their suffering.

Barely two years after the commissioning, the water projects have almost packed-off, now pumping water intermittently. According to the head of the community, Seriki Magaji, Alhaji Usman Adamu, in a chat with The Guardian said serious efforts were made to ensure that the water pump works maximally, but the money spent so far is enormous, coupled with the huge amount to power the generator, but no solution yet.

Other communities like Ita Ori Ejo, Idufe, Idi ayin, Clement village and Kofesu, all in the council area, rely solely on rain and stream water. In other communities in the state like Arigbajo, Apomu, Ayepe, Ejio, Gudugba, Abese, Ifo, Ilepa, Owode, Lisa and Ijako, access to water is always a difficult task.

Like in Arigbajo, where there are public water outlets scattered across the community, water runs maybe once in a week, but at times, it may run for days if there is excess water to be released by the water corporation.

The irregular supply gave rise to private boreholes, where residents get water at a token or sachet water. The manual water pump, provided in the late 1980s and located close to the entrance to the community has been turned to a toy.

Even, the newest Solar power water scheme erected few years ago by a politician has ceased to function, as a result of the theft of the solar system.

Though residents of the community told The Guardian they adopted the usage of generating set to power the system, the frequent destruction of the taps and other parts by unknown people, has made the project dysfunctional.

Lagos State is not left out of this challenge, Mushin, Agege, Oshodi, Abule-Egba, Onigbongbo, Oke-Abiye, Alagbado, Alakuko, Kirikiri, Ikeja, Meiran and Command area, also lack access to good and safe drinking water.

For instance, Igbologun community in Amuwo Odofin council area has no source of potable water. But for the generosity of a firm located in the community, which installed water outlets spread within the community, connected to an overhead tank, the residents wouldn’t have had any access to potable water.

According to health experts, lack of access to water is responsible for the high prevalence of waterborne diseases, like diarrhoea and other illnesses mostly acquired from contaminated water, which kills children under the age of five yearly.