Kwara community celebrates 30yr water crisis resolution

By Muyideen Aliyu, Ilorin

After more than 30 years of crippling water scarcity, the residents of Jebba Community in Moro Local Government Area, Kwara State, are finally celebrating. Their protracted water challenge has been laid to rest with the commissioning of a new 200,000-litre capacity dam project by the state government in 2024.

The relief was highlighted by the dam's water operator, Mr. Suleiman Abdulwaheed, during a media tour organized by the Correspondent Chapel of the Kwara NUJ last weekend.

Abdulwaheed recounted the agonizing history of the project, which began over three decades ago during the administration of Governor Sha'aba Lafiagi only to be repeatedly abandoned by successive governments.

He described the irony of the community a major gateway between the North and South, hosting the River Niger and receiving large numbers of commuters yet having no clean water to drink. This historic water scarcity had denied the town numerous opportunities over the years.

The state government finally commissioned the new water works in May 2024. The facility has a capacity of 200,000 litres daily, with 150,000 litres supplied to the overhead tank for distribution.

Sourcing water directly from the River Niger, the system employs various stages of purification.
"We get the water from the River Niger to the pressure house where all sediments are removed, then to the filter where the water becomes 70% clean," Abdulwaheed explained.

To eliminate remaining pathogens, the water is passed through another tank where chlorine and alum are added and left to treat before being released to the overhead tank for consumption. Residents now enjoy access to clean water for three to four hours daily.

Despite the significant relief brought by Governor Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq's intervention, the operator appealed for further upgrades to ensure sustained supply.

Abdulwaheed requested the government to provide a larger mainline pipe, as the current one cannot handle the pressure.

He also called for the overhead tank capacity to be increased to between 300,000 and 400,000 litres, along with the provision of a stand-by generator.

These additions, he noted, would allow the community to transition from three-to-four hours of daily supply to a much more beneficial 12 hours of water access, addressing the persistent challenges posed by erratic power supply.

"We appreciate the state Governor... for relieving the community of many years of suffering and neglect over water supply," Abdulwaheed said, "but we need more... for the challenges of potable water to the community to be completely over because the issues of power supply remains the central problem."