By Joan Ekundayo and Victoria Okpanachi
Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage. Without water, there can’t be life. Water is an integral part of human life.
Water shortage has affected a lot of residents of Lokoja town in the last 10 months. There are a lot of consequences associated with water scarcity. The life of every citizen should be protected by providing adequate and treated water for the consumption of all.
Lokoja town is occupied by 195,261 (according to the 2006 census) residents with no access to basic water supply from the Lokoja Greater Water Services.
Lokoja is a Local Government Area in Kogi State and it is also the capital of the city; the confluence state. Lokoja is a city, surrounded by water bodies, especially the rivers Niger and Benue.
Lack of access to potable drinking water in the town has caused so much pain, agony, distress, and fatal accidents with some residents critically ill through water-transmitted diseases which eventually led to a number of deaths.
In this investigation, Joan Ekundayo and Victoria Okpanachi revealed that there is no home in the Felele, Yamayama, and the Government Reserved Area (GRA), of the metropolis that has a water supply from the State Water Board also known as the ‘Greater Lokoja Water plant.’
Water is life!
A lot of stress is associated with water scarcity in Lokoja town while some privileged individuals take water supply for granted.
Greater Lokoja Water Plant Ganaja village PC: Joan Ekunday and Victoria Okpanachi
On a usual Saturday morning at the Gadumo axis of 200 units, children and women were seen crossing busy roads from one lane to the other with big basins and buckets of water. This situation was also observed at odd hours of the night.
Fatimah Inuwa, a 10-year-old primary school pupil, was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver along the busy highway of Gaduma while trying to cross the road with a bucket of water on her head. She survived the accident with a broken leg and bruises all over her body.
Fatimah is a daughter of a single mother, Hajia Binta Inuwa.
Hajia Inuwa, explains the numerous challenges her family goes through to access potable water.
She said: I don’t have a husband neither do I have a paying job. My family and I survive through the proceeds of my small business.
“Buying water is very expensive and when I close from the day’s sales, I and my children go across to fetch water but see where that has led my daughter Fati.
“That faithful day, we were already taking the last trench of water home when from nowhere, that car just lifted my daughter with her bucket of water on her head. He sped off immediately but all thanks to those around who took her off the road but then, she was covered in her own blood.
“She sustained injuries including a broken leg and that leg up till now, hasn’t properly healed. She has been going to an orthopedic clinic every Tuesday in FMC and that is a lot of money, but I need to treat my child. I am indebted to many people and my business is also suffering as you know, if she doesn’t go to the clinic, the leg will never be useful anymore. I am appealing to the state government to please, look into this issue of water scarcity and release water for us. It’s becoming a big nightmare for us.
Technicians working to fix an electrical fault at the Greater Lokoja Water Plant Ganaja Village PC: Joan Ekunday and Victoria Okpanachi
Mr. Johnson Amos, a resident of Timber Shade in Felele also explained what befell him and his family in this period of water scarcity.
My son was 7 years old when he fell ill, and that sickness led to his death.
“Moses Amos is the only male child I have. He started complaining of stomach pain and this pain lasted for several months. At a point, the Chemist I went to, suggested we deworm him and we did but the ache persisted.
“My boy could no longer eat, he became a shadow of himself and it was at that point we took him to the Kogi State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, where we were referred to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.
“We were told he had untreated typhoid which had perforated his intestines. We spent over three hundred thousand (N300,000) for surgery and even more for bed space, treatment, and dressing of the wound. There was no accommodation for us so, we had to lodge in a hotel close to the hospital to be close to Moses.
“His treatment drained our resources. I sell second-hand electrical appliances and my wife is a tailor. When we could no longer afford the bills at the hospital and the hotel, we asked that we be discharged and that was how we came back home with our son.
“At first, he showed signs of improvement but that was short-lived as he died after four days of being discharged. Water scarcity in Lokoja town has not only made me financially broke, but it has also cost me, my only son.
“The government and the State Ministry of Water Resources made our lives miserable. No water and no alternative. We only buy water from water vendors who we don’t even know where they get their supply from.
Residents fetching water at a neigbhours house at Gadumo PC: Joan Ekunday and Victoria Okpanachi
Mrs. Omale Abigail, a resident of GRA in Lokoja town is a parent and also the guardian to Enechojon, a 15 years old Senior Secondary School One Student, (name of school withheld) who in the quest of getting water from a neighbour’s house became a victim of molestation and unwanted pregnancy with STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection).
She revealed that each time Enechojon goes to fetch water for the house, the gateman fondles her and later lures her into his room with N500. He severally had canal knowledge of her which later resulted in yeast infection.
“Enechojon had to be treated with advanced and expensive antibiotics and as you know, when you are being treated for infection, you must abstain from sex if you already have a partner. My girl did not know this and continued meeting the gateman.”
According to her, anytime her daughter refused to give in, the gateman would not allow her to fetch water hence, the constant sex for water.
In February 2023, I noticed my daughter’s sluggishness. She rejects food and becomes frail.
“One day, she fainted, I rushed her to the hospital (name of Hospital); the doctor disclosed that she was 3 months pregnant. It was at this point she narrated what had been happening to her each time I sent her to fetch water from the neighbours.
“Now, she is out of school. We managed to feed her before because I am a local government worker and you know that local government workers in Kogi State are paid percentage salaries and the payment is not every month.
“I managed to register for antenatal, we need to get baby essentials, prepare for delivery, and even her routine drugs. What can I do other than to pray for the Governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello to help us and find a solution to our suffering due to the scarcity of portable drinking water.”
A new electricity transformer at Ganaja village PC: Joan Ekunday and Victoria Okpanachi
Kogi State Water Plant popularly called ‘Greater Water Plant’, is located in Ganaja Village, a part of Lokoja.
Presently, there are 30 members of staff and some of them are poll staff (those who can be transferred at any time), with some 12 casual workers who usually sit idle on the site.
The General Manager, Kogi State Water Board, Engr. Abdulsalam Sagir of the Water Board office in Felele after Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, affirmed that he cannot remember when the last money was released for water treatment, talking more about keeping an inventory.
In his words: “Is it not who trusts himself that would trust others! There hasn’t been anything like water treatment in a long while, I must confess, that is why you see most times that there’s coloration of water supply.
“The level of work done for water restoration is 93 percent and in no distant time, water supply shall be restored in every house in Lokoja town.
“There is currently a ton of work being done to make sure that water is restored as promised by the government.”
With this assurance, there might be hope that portable drinking water may soon start running in taps at home, schools, and other public places.
Engr. Sagir expressed that flood is a natural disaster but that it could be averted if necessary and proactive measures are taken to curb its effect. While regretting the hardship caused by the floods, he said that once the warning signs appear, they will evacuate every necessary equipment that could be affected.
“The electrical levels and control panels have been raised to a safe level. He stressed that they are also planning to make the drain airtight to avert harsh consequences in case of future occurrences,” he added.
Submerged cables at the Greater Lokoja Water Plant PC: Joan Ekunday and Victoria Okpanachi
A visit to the Greater Water Plant in Ganaja revealed that a new transformer, 150KVA, has been installed to be able to supply water to Lokoja people but not yet powered once that is done, it’ll be for 24 hours daily and it will release 600 million litres of water per day.
The GM, however, lamented that a major challenge facing the immediate restoration of the water supply, is the armored cables that power the pumps, after a series of tests, it was confirmed to have failed the insulation resistance test.
The cables are affected by excessive dampness.
According to him, the last flood submerged the cables, which were trapped in the concrete hence, the difficulty faced in getting them out. He noted that a letter has been sent to the State Government to that effect and they are hopeful that it will be given the necessary attention.
The challenge caused by the perennial floods the excessive dampness of armoured cables and the configuration of the encrypted panels has led to the lack of supply of potable drinking water to residents of the state.
The Honourable Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon. A. Danga, has not been available for an interview. According to an insider, the Commissioner is out of Lokoja on state matters.
The Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources, Philip Olawale, said the 2022 floods affected most of the machines of the Lokoja Greater Water Works. However, he was positive water would be restored soon since for him, the repair work has reached almost 90% completion.
Mr. Johnson Moses, father of Amos has dug a water well in his compound. It provides water for his family and neighbours.
He disclosed that his wife treats the water by boiling it before they drink from it.
According to him, the entire family is still mourning the loss of Amos, their seven-year-old son: “The memory is still fresh and it can never be erased.”
Enechojon remains pregnant (how many months?) and nothing is coming from the man who impregnated her as support.
Her guardian, Mrs. Abigail Omale now buys water from water vendors (Mairuwa) for use in the house, Satchet Water which is sold for N250 a bag (how many in a bag) is used for drinking.
She said: “Going back to school for Elechojon is not sacrosanct because a pregnant girl will not be allowed in school. She will only return to school when she is delivered of her pregnancy.
On a second visit to the Greater Water Plant, one of the engineers who begged to remain anonymous said: “This work has lingered and it’s because it is not a priority for the government. If it was, and necessary provision was made, we should have been through with repairs and water should have been by now, flowing in everyone’s house.
“Monies were claimed to have been released but we didn’t get any of it and that is why the work seems slow.
“We were discreetly informed that about N300,000,000 was on record to have been released as money for repairs of the machines damaged by flood by the state government which was termed out-of-pocket expenses but what was awarded was N1,000,000 in March 2023.”
Another Engineer, Mr. Reuben Dada, authoritatively disclosed that some of the repairs can’t be handled by them as the previous Chinese, who installed the machines, encrypted his work so that no one except him could access it. For him, the man had no choice but to do that because he felt cheated and betrayed by the government.
PC: Joan Ekunday and Victoria Okpanachi
In his words: “I can’t but hail the administration of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, who thought of this and brought it to bear in order to put an end to the suffering of the citizenry. Look at where this insensitivity has brought us, everyone stretches themselves just to get water and mostly, this water is not even treated.
“What needs to be done in my own opinion, if for the government, through the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Finance should release more funds to fast track this restoration work.”
An electrician on the site where the greater water is located in Ganaja Village, Mr. Sunday Chinonso said: “Looking at what the economy is saying, how many people can afford to drill a borehole, what is even the assurance that when you drill, there’ll be reasonable water?
“Alternative water sources are somehow available though, not too widely accessible by residents. The season or period we are now is the rainy season and it has been so helpful because that has been an avenue for residents to get both drinking and domestic water for use.
“And for some who have well dug or boreholes drilled in their compound, they have been getting their own source from there and for some privileged individuals who are able to gain access to neigbours who allow them fetch water for a stipulated time while some charge for each container fetched and for some, it is the water vendors who have been saving them by supplying water in their trucks for varying prices.”
In the last three years, monies released to the Water Ministry are N148,897,334.
In 2021, N9,811,929 was approved, in 2022, 84,740,886 and in 2023, the sum of N54,344,519 was approved according to the 2021, 2022, and 2023 budget documents on the internet.
The approval was given but not broken down into segments and therefore, there is no stipulated price for water treatment as the prices paid vary as per whatever is released to the sub-sectors of water resources.
PC: Joan Ekunday and Victoria Okpanachi
With the grappling economy of Nigeria and most importantly, Lokoja, Kogi State, where water scarcity is prevalent, the cost of drugs, hospital bills, and even the cost of feeding is on the high side.
Like Enechojon and Amos, a lot of Lokoja residents have died of diseases they contracted from untreated water and yet, treatment for these sicknesses is not free.
As of the time of filling this report, the Greater Lokoja Water Plant has picked up and the supply of water is skeletal in some sections of Ganaja village.
This publication was produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) through Stalliion Times under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
