By Ben Ogbemudia
In Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, times are hard for residents. Life is not rosy for citizens, because they find it difficult to access good water for survival.

It’s needless to say that the population of the city is growing at a rapid rate. Development projects are piling up everywhere, but the fear of an epidemic stands ‘twice as tall’ due to lack of ‘potable’ water.

New districts and housing estates are continuously being commissioned but it is hard to meet the needs of a surging populace.

Most parts of the new and existing satellite towns like Kubwa, Lugbe, Lokogoma, Katampe, Guzape, Jabi, Apo, Karsana, amongst others, are mostly without municipal water supply.

Residents groan because they depend on boreholes and wells, often without proper ground water resources to live on.

This has given rise to the menace of poor environment and open defecation. Many public toilets, locally referred to as ‘Gida Wanka’ are in a dreary situation, particularly in Jabi, Lugbe,  Jahi Kiyi Giri Kubwa and Gwagwalada.

Many residents are defecating in drainages and open fields surrounding their homes. Public toilet owners are also lamenting that their source of livelihood is being threatened. To them, there is no other source of income to fall back on as the water scarcity persists.

Aminu Musa, a public toilet operator in Berger and Jabi, aho spoke in Hausa, urged ‘whoever is in charge’ to restore the water supply in the area to save their businesses and reduce open defecation.

Mekwunye Kidochukwu, the Public Relations Officer of Borehole Drillers Association of Nigeria, Abuja Chapter, said Logokoma has over 50 housing estates and virtually all homes in the area depend on boreholes for their source of water supply.
Abuja is located in the Savanah region of the country where rainfall is minimal rainfall. This means that the level of both groundwater and surface water (streams, rivers and lakes) resources are relatively low.

To compound matters, the limited supply of water resources is compounded by the menace of pollution.

26.5m Nigerian children have little access to water — UNICEF

The future even looks gloomier if this trend is not curbed as the ever increasing population in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja means that more pressure will be put on the already declining groundwater sources since every home depends on boreholes and wells for domestic water supply while regarding the rivers and streams as waste dumpsites.

Water-borne diseases are prevalent in the territory because most of the boreholes in homes are sited near septic tanks (‘soakaways’).

A recent population projection by the United Nations estimates that Nigeria is set to be the third most populous country by 2050, and as such governments, national and international non-governmental agencies, as well as stakeholders should be proactive by paying better attention to prevent an impending national crisis.

A community in the proximity to the official residence of the former Minister of the FCT, Senator Mohammed Bello, is currently troubled because of lack of access to drinkable water for almost two weeks running.

The residents are grumbling loud that they have been cut off from water supply by the FCT Water Board. Sadly, there is no green light as to when respite will come to the Dape Community.  Residents say they now have two options: drinking from the nearby polluted stream, or patronising water vendors despite their scarce resources.

Cart operators are having a field day inflating rates. The average price of a container has shot-up from N20 to N100 within the short space of time.

A resident disclosed that a cart of eight gallons of water is now sold at the rate of N1,000 as against N350 to N400 before the water scarcity problem arose. Sadly, he laments, the rate might keep increasing if the public water system is not restored soon.

“Since the incident, we have relied on the nearby stream for sanitation and domestic use,” says Mr Matthias Andrew, one of the residents.

“My family, like every other one are feeling the severe impact of water scarcity,” he told the reporter.

The same unpleasant experience occurs at the Life Camp District in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the territory.

Daily, many residents in the community, especially women and children, have to resort to polluted streams for laundry and even bathing.

The fear of water borne diseases in the community has heightened as residents resort to the stream for daily their water needs.

Another vendor, who simply identified himself as Jimoh, attributed the water scarcity problem to a faulty water-pipe supply which Dape is connected to. However, he said the FCT Water Board is working tirelessly to fix the situation.

Also hit by the dearth of water supply are residents of Ushafa, Kubwa, Dutsen Alhaji, Area One, Garki, Durumi and other locations.

The FCT water management board had earlier informed the people of the disruption to the water supply in a public notice circulated on the social media.

“The management of FCT Water Board thanks residents of the FCT for their continued patience while repair works on the trunkline at the Lower Usuma Dam Water Treatment plant 3 and 4 is ongoing.

‘’Please, be rest assured that our engineers are working tirelessly to restore normal supply. Meanwhile, residents in need of water may please contact the area managers within their districts for supplementary water supply via water tankers,’’ the notice stated.

A resident identified as Danladi explained that the community needed boreholes, stressing that the brownish water from the stream ‘’is not ideal for consumption.’’

However, when ThisNigeria reached out to the FCT Water Board, Jabi, Mr John Tuta, the Assistant Area Manager, attributed the problem to a damaged 300mm (12inches) pipe.

Tuta said the damages had gotten the attention of the FCT Administration, adding that contract would be awarded for repair work soon.

“It is not humanly possible to carry out the repair because the excavator has to come and remove the pipe from the ground for repair, and right now, it is being handled by our General Manager and the Minister of FCT.”
Tuta however dismissed the rumour going round that water scarcity in Dape was due to non-payment of water bills as and when due by the residents.

“Even if they are not paying, we cannot starve everybody, except if a compound estate owes in bulk and refuses to pay. Then, we can disconnect them generally.”
It is expected that the FCT authority, in no time, would proffer a quick solution as promised to satisfy the water needs of the locals.