In Search of Portable Water
Yemi Akinsuyi, writes on how the Taran Community in Bauchi state have been living under unimaginable conditions based on lack of portable water supply.
Janet Patrick, an 18-year old Secondary School Certificate holder, could easily pass for the most beautiful girl in Nigeria. Despite the fact that she lives in a remote village called Taran in Gbogolo Local Government Area of Bauchi State, her beauty is dazzling. Despite her beauty, Patrick has not been able to detach herself from the same gripe of poverty, which has also held the entire village bound.Even her natural beauty could not just do the magic of transformation into wealth.
Even in the face of daunting poverty, one problem that has become a life-threatening situation for her community is the lack of portable water supply.
Narrating the hazards she had passed through because of lack of water in her village, Janet said this problem nearly cost her her education. She said, “During raining season, we gather water with our bowls and keep for all our domestic use. This period, we suffer the effect of lack of supply less.
“With this rain water, we would wash, cook, clean, and do all domestic chores without much sweat. Most times we still keep the water till after the season, but after sometimes, it will finish and we will be faced with no other choice than fetching water from our little stream.
“At such time as this, the stream would still be flowing with water. Although our animals would be drinking from it, we will still be using it for domestic purposes. This stream, as you can see for yourself, is a bit far from our residence but we must come here to fetch.
“We enjoy this luxury until the time of dry season. This same flowing river would start drying up gradually until the whole young men would dig round it like a well to get water out of the place.
“This season, I can’t say it’s a bad period of the year for us here in Taran, but when it comes to water, we, especially the women and girls suffer a lot before getting water.
“We would come most times as earlier as 3am in the morning to scoop water from the well before our animals would wake up to finish it.
“Most times we would wait until around 7am in the morning after our animals had finished drinking for us to scoop water. We are not concerned much more on whether the water is safe and clean. What concerns us is just to get water to use at home.
“Whenever we had to wait till 7am in the morning, we would not be able to go to school that day because trekking from our village to the next one which only has both primary and secondary in the same classrooms would not take us less than one hour. Before we could get there, school activities would have gone half way.
“But for the grace of Almighty God, I would not have even finished primary school not to talk of proceeding to secondary school. Most times, I would not be able to take my bath or breakfast before rushing to school. It was just share determination, coupled with the grace of God.”
According to reports, Nigeria is the most densely inhabited country in Africa with a population of 158 million people and growing rapidly. As the population increases, remote communities are further cut off and urban facilities become overloaded.
Poverty is widespread in Nigeria, and despite a natural wealth of gold, oil and diamonds, these potential resources are not being transformed into employment or improvements in living standards for millions of people.
Little wonder then most people would rather live in the urban areas of the country in order to enjoy little comfort including epileptic power supply, occasional supply of at least, running water, partial manageable roads and others things life itself would naturally provide for human existence.
While the fortunate ones are enjoying these ‘luxuries’, the less privilege or less fortunate remain in their various villages faced with abject poverty and abandonment by the government of the day.
Like Patrick, many of the villagers face challenges in the area of sanitation and good health. Given the fact that there is no hospital or health centre anywhere close to her village, each time there is an ‘attack’ of water borne diseases, which are mainly the diseases in the area, the villagers would go miles in search of medical attention, even though their major means of transportation is motorcycle otherwise known as Okada.
The villagers are prone to sickness because the same pond where they fetch water for domestic purposes as well as drinking, is the same where their domestic animals drink and pass urine.
According to Patrick, just within a week, about 12 people in the community with just about 200 people have been rushed to hospital due to water borne related diseases.
She said, If the people lack clean and