Mr. Adekunle Adebiyi a Marketing Executive in one of the new generation banks in the Federal Capital Territory had moved from Kubwa to Jikwoyi with the hope that he would cut down on cost of living.
But after three years, Mr. Akinbiyi has come to the realization that he is spending more especially on water-which he buys almost every day.
“While in Kubwa, I buy water most times except on a few occasions that my neighbour’s tap run. Then I was single, but now, I am married with two children and two other dependants that are living with me. I now have to buy 6 gallons of water every day and a truck of water-(12 or 15 gallons depending on the size of the truck-on weekends that the family does its laundry.
With a gallon of water going for N25, you can understand what one spends on water alone talk less of other expenses.”
From Phase 1 to Phase IV, the story is the same on the lips of every Jikwoyi residents.
The situation is not different in all the suburbs of the FCT and even some satellite towns.
Nigeria is characterized by low levels of access to an improved water source. Responsibility for water supply is shared between three levels of government – federal, state and local. The federal government is in charge of water resources management; state governments have the primary responsibility for urban water supply; and local governments together with communities are responsible for rural water supply.
Water supply service quality and cost recovery are low. Water tariffs are low and many water users do not pay their bills. Service providers thus rely mostly on occasional subsidies to cover their operating costs.
Investments are mainly financed by foreign donors and fall short of what is needed to achieve a significant increase in access.
In a recent interview, the Minister of Water Resources admitted that lack of funds was slowing her Ministry’s effort at providing Nigerians with access to water.
According to her, “budgetary allocation for Water Resources Ministry is not enough to embark on aggressive repairs of boreholes in Nigeria.
According to the World Bank, in 2010 water production facilities in Nigeria were “rarely operated to capacity due to broken down equipments, or lack of power or fuel for pumping.”
The operating cost of water agencies is pushed up by the need to rely on diesel generators or even having to build their own power plants, since power supply is erratic. Equipment and pipes are poorly maintained, leading to intermittent supply and high levels of non-revenue water.
As at 2010, only 54 percent of Nigerians had access to improved water.
Also, annual investment in water supply was put at N82.5billion both from government and donor agencies.
Interestingly, Abuja is one of the two cities that has a sewer network for part of the city with the other been Lagos.
But due to the ever increasing population of the FCT, it has virtually become difficult if not impossible for these amenities to reach the suburbs.
Abuja receives part of its drinking water from the lower Usuma dam. The capacity of the plant that treats surface water from the dam’s reservoir was in the process of being increased in 2012 in order to cater for the growing population of the city.
The Gurara dam, which was still under construction in 2012, is expected to further increase water supply to Abuja.
Jikwoyi which about 10 minutes drive from the city centre boost of a large population of those that make-up the city’s working class.
Many are driven to Jikwoyi as according to some of them, “the average man can afford to pay for a decent accommodation there.”
BenjaminUmutemeReport gathered that in spite of the ‘cheap accommodation’, residents have continued to groan under the burden of having to pay so much for water.
Despite the various boreholes scattered across the nook and crannies of the suburb, water is still quite expensive as people pay as much as N25 for a 20 litres gallon of water.
However, the amount one pays depends on the size of one’s container, but residents have had to fetch water themselves for as low as N10 for a 20 litres gallon and N15 for a 25 litres gallon to avoid paying water vendors popularly known as ‘Mai ruwa’ N25 for a 20 litres gallon of water.
According to Mrs. Susan Abuwa while her family was in Mararaba buying water was much cheaper than what it is in Jikwoyi.
She said that in Mararaba, she used to buy 3 gallons for N50 but in Jikwoyi it is N75, “but if water scarce, na N300 for full truck wen contain 12 gallons but normal time na N250.”
Attempts to get a former councilor, Williams Wayi, who represented Jikwoyi at the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), several years ago to get his reaction on the water challenge facing the town proved abortive as he was said to be out of town.
Another resident who claimed to have been in the town since 2000 told BenjaminUmutemeReport that the water challenge in Jikwoyi would continue because according to him “government believes most people staying in Jikwoyi are staying illegally.”
He further explained that based on the masterplan “only very few people have valid land documents, so how do you want FCT authorities to come and provide water to those they consider illegal occupants.”
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