Many residents of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria say they largely depend on private boreholes for their water supply.

They spoke in a recent nationwide survey conducted by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Most of the respondents told NAN that the regional water schemes established by past state administrations in the region were no longer functional.

In Enugu State, however, the state government has expressed its determination to address the water-related challenges facing the citizens in urban and rural communities across the state.

NAN reports that Enugu State has three major water schemes in Ajali, Ezeagu Local Government Area as well as in Nsukka and Oji River, Oji Local Government Area of the state.

NAN also reports that the Ministry of Water Resources got N185.78 million in the 2018 budget, while N75.5 million was allocated to Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Agency.

The Enugu State Water Corporation received N318 million, while N200 million was allocated to the Enugu State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (ENRUWASA).

Dr Charles Egumgbe, the Enugu State Commissioner for Water Resources, told NAN that state government had made adequate provision for water supply and reticulation projects in the 2018 budget.

He said that when all the projects executed by the ministry and its agencies were completed, their impact on the water supply to the citizenry would be far-reaching.

“I am optimistic that the Enugu State’s 2018 Budget will address the water availability challenge in some parts of the state.

“The budget for water supply and reticulation in the state reflects Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s desire to execute people-oriented projects that will have much impact on the lives of the people.

“I urge all residents of the state to support the state government’s plans and programmes since they are all executed in their best interest,’’ Egumgbe said.

Nevertheless, tap water vendors have called on the state government to compel the state water board to supply water regularly at close intervals to facilitate their business.

One of the water vendors, Mrs Ngozi Chukwuani, a resident of Abakpa, said that the board only supplied water twice or thrice in a month.

“If there is no regular water supply, residents will have no other option than to fetch unhygienic water.

“We pay water bill every month; the bill is not fixed but it is costly, compared to the services which the water board renders,’’ she said.

Another Abakpa-based water vendor, Mrs Patricia Ejim, said that her water tap had stopped running for several months.

“We have complained to the water board and I was asked to pay N2,000 for the problem to be rectified but it has not been fixed,’’ she said.

However, the Ebonyi Government said that it was addressing the perennial water shortage facing the residents of Abakaliki, the capital city, and other major towns across the state.

The Commissioner for Water Resources, Mrs Euphemia Nwali, told NAN that the completion of the repair and rehabilitation of Ezillo, Oferekpe and Ukaghwu waterworks had stimulated constant water supply in the state.

She said that the administration of Gov. David Umahi had effectively repositioned the water sector to meet the growing water needs of the residents by creating the Ministry of Water Resources in July 2015.

“The idea is to revamp the water sub-sector to achieve better results in water supply and administration of resources.

“The Ministry of Water Resources has taken over the duties of the State Water Corporation; the ministry is now the policymaking and implementing organ of government in the water sub-sector,’’ she said.

The commissioner, who did not disclose the yearly budgetary allocations to the ministry, however, noted that water supply and allied services in the state had improved considerably.

“Residents of the state now have regular access to clean and potable water for both domestic and commercial uses,’’ Nwali added.

Nevertheless, Dr Paul Okorie, a former General Manager of the defunct Ebonyi State Water Corporation, said that the state government had yet to fully address the water supply challenges facing the citizens of the state.

Okorie said that the bad policy on water management was definitely responsible for the prolonged absence of public water supply outlets in Ebonyi.

He stressed that the decision of the Umahi-administration to abolish the state water corporation was wrong.

He said that the supply, management and maintenance of the water infrastructure were the main responsibility of a state corporation or water board, adding that this had been the standard practice globally.

Okorie said that the creation of a ministry to replace the water corporation was a bad policy.

He said that the primary responsibility of a water resources ministry was policy formulation and the provision of an articulated roadmap that would facilitate efficient management of water resources.

Okorie, who was in charge of the water corporation between 2000 and 2005, decried the state of the water infrastructure in the state and urged the state government to revamp the ailing sector.

He also condemned the handover of the multi-billion-naira Oferekpe Water Scheme to a private firm, saying that the policy would further worsen the water situation in the state.

In Imo State, the residents of Owerri said that they now totally relied on self-help water supply projects such as bore holes, following the concession of the management of Imo State Water Corporation in 2012.

All the same, residents of some states in the North-Central geopolitical zone were also facing water supply challenges because of factors such as erratic power supply, rusted pipes, equipment vandalism and poor finance, among others.

NAN, however, learnt that while water supply had improved in urban centres across Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi, Benue, Benue and Niger states, most rural areas were still having water supply glitches.

In Nasarawa State, Mr Umar Abdullahi-Agbo, General Manager, Nasarawa State Water Board, said that, apart from pipeline vandalism, another major factor frustrating efforts to provide water for the people regularly was insufficient power supply.

“As a result, most of the waterworks in the state largely depend on power generating plants for power supply.

“The Lafia Waterworks, recently refurbished by the state government, has the capacity of producing 13 million gallons of water daily but it cannot produce at its maximum capacity due to poor electricity supply.

“Our power generating plants consume a drum of diesel per hour and we are expected to operate 24 hours a day.

“Can you imagine the amount of money being spent on diesel daily? It is even more difficult to calculate the amount of money spent on the purchase of treatment chemicals and other essentials,” he added.

Besides, Abdullahi-Agbo bemoaned the activities of some desperate consumers who break pipelines to siphon or channel water illegally to their houses or farms.

“The Mada Waterworks in Akwanga, for instance, is dedicated to residents of Keffi, Akwanga and the Army barracks in Keffi.

“Over time, however, some residents of the settlements along the pipe routes have broken the water pipes to connect water to their homes, farms and even car wash centres.

“The water is meant for human consumption but these intruders break the pipes to provide water for their animals, irrigate farms or wash cars; this is quite appalling,’’ he said.

The general manager, who noted that the culprits were highly placed individuals, vowed that the perpetrators of the act would soon be apprehended and prosecuted.

He said that the urban renewal programme of the state government, which entailed construction of new roads, had also affected the water pipeline network in some neighbourhoods.

He also said that Gov. Umaru Al-Makura had demonstrated great commitment to supplying adequate potable water to the citizens with the initiation of new water schemes and the refurbishment of existing ones.

He said that some of the schemes were borehole projects due to the geology of certain areas, adding that most of the schemes were solar-powered so as to address the issue of unreliable power supply.

In Plateau State, more than 340 boreholes have been sunk by Plateau State Water Board and Plateau Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (PRUWASSA) via the support of the EU-UNICEF Project.

The Secretary to the State Government, Mr Rufus Bature, said that the boreholes were drilled in communities across the 17 local governments of the state.

He said that the state water board was able to procure assorted water treatment chemicals to enhance water supply, while the Ministry of Water Resources had introduced some policies to promote efficient water management.

He said that the policies included water and sanitation laws as well as monitoring and evaluation framework, while other measures were taken to protect water pipelines from vandalism.

The 2018 Budget of Plateau also indicated a strong commitment to boosting water supply, as N3.582 billion – 5.07 per cent of the total budget – was earmarked for water supply projects.

Details of the project indicated that N150 million would be expended on the acquisition of laboratory equipment, while N800 million would be spent on the expansion of water distribution pipeline network to improve water supply to the residents of Jos and Bukuru.

Other details showed that N170 million would be spent on rural water supply in Bokkos, while the Mangu Regional Water Supply Project (Phase 1 of the network distribution and pipelines scheme) would cost N600 million.

Bature said that N482 million was given to the Plateau Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency to improve water supply and sanitation in the state.

He said that the replacement of rusted pipes, which had been recognised as a major impediment to efficient water supply, was also taken care of in the 2018 budget.

He, nonetheless, urged the residents to protect the water pipes by making pragmatic efforts to curb the activities of vandals.

The Lagos State Water Corporation (LWC) says it has designed a master plan to ensure adequate and interrupted water supply to the residents.

The Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Muminu Badmus, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, as part of a recent nationwide survey.

Badmus, however, said that there had been a tremendous improvement in the supply of potable water to households as well as industrial and commercial outfits in Lagos State.

NAN reports that at the moment, the corporation’s water supply capacity is 210 million gallons per day (MGD), while it needs 750MGD to service more than 20 million inhabitants of the state.

Badmus said that the corporation had begun an aggressive rehabilitation of 48 mini-waterworks in various parts of the state in 2017 so as to ensure the even distribution of water to all communities.

According to him, available records show that rehabilitation of the mini-waterworks has reached 87 per cent completion by the end of 2017.

“The reason for the rehabilitation is to ensure that every household in the state is connected to public water supply channels.

“The waterworks are at Epe, Ikoyi, Alexander, Dolphin, Lekki, Badore, Epe-Agric, Victoria Island Annex, Eredo, Surulere, Ikate, Coker, Aguda, Iponri, Somolu, Bariga, Iwaya, Isheri-Oshun, Alausa, Oshodi, Ikeja, Ikeja-GRA, Apapa, Ajegunle, Ajangbadi and Ojo.

“Others are at Ijora-Badia, Shasha, Abule-Egba, Oke-Odo, Idimu, Igando, Meiran, Ikorodu-Lagos Road, Ikorodu-Ota-Ona, Oworonsoki, Magodo, Ijaye, Ojokoro, Isheri-Odo and Agege.

“As a result of the rehabilitation projects, uninterrupted water supply has been restored to areas like Ijesha-tedo, Makoko, Ikate, Iwaya, Unilag second gate, Odunlami Linkage (Lagos Island) and Isheri-Olowora,’’ he said.

Badmus said that the construction of a 100-MGD water scheme at Igbo-Nla (Phase1) will serve the Epe corridor, Victoria Island, Ibeju-Lekki, Badore, Igbo-Efon, Ajah and Onikan.

He said that the Igbo-Nla project would be executed through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

The managing director, however, said that factors such as old and rusty pipes, burst pipes, blockage and building on water pipe right-of-way, water wastage and consumers’ outright refusal to pay water bills had combined to frustrate efforts toward regular water supply in the state.

According to him, the corporation is providing metering systems for water consumers to effectively tackle menace of the billing system and water wastage.

He said that with the metering system, payment for water would be dependent on water usage in order to ensure that residents used water responsibly.

Besides, Badmus said that the corporation had put some mechanisms in place to fast-track immediate repair of burst pipes.

He said that the agency was encouraging people to report burst pipes in their neighbourhoods for prompt repair.

Badmus said that people were still facing acute water shortage in the state as the provision of water was certainly cost-intensive.

He said that many new and fast-developing estates had yet to be provided with water reticulation pipes, adding that until the pipes were connected to those communities, the residents would not be able to have hitch-free access to potable water.

He, however, underscored the need for the restructuring of the existing public water supply programmes via the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Badmus stressed that the overhaul of the water sector would facilitate the construction of many waterworks in the state, as government’s funds were obviously inadequate for the construction of new waterworks.

He, however, said that the PPP was different from privatisation.

He added that under the Lagos State PPP model, private investors would participate in the construction of waterworks, while the government would regulate water supply and protect the interests of water consumers in the state.

Meanwhile, stakeholders South-South geopolitical zone of the country have urged the state governments to overhaul existing water schemes and build new ones to enhance water supply to the residents.

They listed the challenges facing water supply in the zone as high-level leakages, broken pipelines, poor equipment maintenance and inadequate funding, among others.

For instance, the Cross River State Water Board said that the high incidence of water leakages in the Calabar metropolis because of broken pipelines, among other factors, was largely responsible for the poor water supply.

The newly-appointed Administrator of the Board, Dr Stephen Odey, however, told NAN that regular water supply would be restored in Calabar and its environs.

He attributed the current water supply problems in the Calabar metropolis to broken pipelines and other factors.

“The situation is bad and embarrassing to the state, there are leakages everywhere; no maintenance, nothing.

“This can be described as economic sabotage because if water, which that is meant for people’s houses, is allowed to waste away on the street, you should not expect the residents to pay their water bills,” he said.

Odey said that the state government had initiated some measures to ensure regular maintenance and repair of the water infrastructure, particularly water pipelines, so as to stamp out water leakages and wastage.

All the same, the Cross River State Government has procured “Motorised Drilling Rig and Geographical Survey Equipment’’ to provide borehole water for over 500 rural communities across the three senatorial districts.

Gov. Ben Ayade, who recently inaugurated the equipment, pledged the commitment of his administration to providing potable water for the citizens, including those living in the rural communities.

“By the time we are done in four years, we will have no single community that has to go to the stream to look for water; we must put an end to that.

“With this rig, we will provide quality water that will make our people healthy.

“We must take water to the doorsteps of our people and that is why we have procured this equipment for the benefit of mankind,’’ he added.

In Bayelsa State, some residents of Yenagoa, the state capital, who decried poor access to drinkable water, called for an urgent improvement of water supply to their communities so as to reduce the people’s dependence on water vendors for daily water supplies.

However, Mr Nengi Tuobonah, the Commissioner for Water Resources, said that the Bayelsa State Government, World Bank, the European Union (EU) and UNICEF were collaborating to ensure improved water supply to the citizens.

Tuobonah listed ongoing water projects as the construction of 13 solar-powered water supply networks in Okaka, Yenagoa, Ogbia, Ekeremor and Sagbama Local Government Areas.

“Besides, we are refurbishing 100,000-gallon overhead tanks and building 10 modern water treatment plants in communities across the state.

“We have been in partnership with the EU and UNICEF; I believe before the end of 2018 – with the projects embarked upon by the present government – there will be surplus potable water for our people.

“As part of efforts to alleviate the current sufferings of the people, government has stationed water tankers at 20 strategic locations across Yenagoa to sell water to the residents at the rate of N20 per 20-litre container.

“The government has paid N42 million as its counterpart funding for the intervention by donor agencies, including World Bank, EU and UNICEF, to provide potable water for residents.

“By the end of the first quarter of the year; everybody, every household and every family in Yenagoa will have water reticulated to their homes by the grace of God,’’ he said.

Nevertheless, Mrs Grace Mark, a trader in Opolo community, bemoaned the water supply situation in the state, saying that the residents’ reliance on water from water vendors was unhealthy.

Mark said: “We want the government to improve on water supply; we have the water pipes all round but no adequate supply of water.

“Even when you have a borehole in your house, you still have to treat the water very well before using it due to its high iron content.

“Besides, oil is polluting our water and this has made it difficult for us to have drinkable water here; and we can’t depend on pipe-borne water because it is not regular.’’

In a bid to boost water supply to the citizens, the Edo State Government has developed a three-year Medium Term Water Sector Strategic Plan to improve the people’s access to drinkable water in all the 18 local government areas of the state.

The Commissioner for Energy and Water Resources, Mr Yekini Idaiye, told NAN in Benin City, the state capital, that during the period, government would spend over N6 billion to reactivate existing water schemes.

He said that the government would connect water pipes to all villages and communities where the water schemes were located, while building new schemes.

He said that there were ongoing water projects in Ovia South West, Etsako West, Uhunmwonde, Ohrionmwon, Esan South and Owan West Local Government Areas.

“The total cost of the seven projects is N4 billion and the projects are jointly funded by the state government and the EU.

“Besides, N1.3 billion has been budgeted for water projects in the 2018 budget and the figure excludes the amount which will be coming from international donor agencies,’’ he said.

Idaiye said that government planned to reactivate all the water schemes, initiated under the MDGs programme, and various dams across the state to further boost water supply to the citizens.

“As we speak, Federal Government is already working on the Ojirami Dam in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area and the Otuo Dam in Owan East Local Government Area.

“Once the Federal Government is through with the projects, our job as a state will be to reticulate the water to communities and towns within the domains of these dams.’’

The commissioner said that the state government, in its efforts to ensure sustainability of these projects, had set up Water Consumers Associations (WCAs), while training no fewer than 500 artisans in equipment repairs.

“The duty of the WCAs is to ensure the efficient management of these water projects in the communities, while protecting them against vandalism.

“The artisans will be trained on how to repair the equipment of the water projects,’’ he said.

“To ensure efficiency and better service delivery, we have also restructured the water board by splitting it into two agencies — Small Town and Rural water Sanitation Agency and Urban Water Corporation,” he said.

However, Mr Aniefiok Ukpe, the Managing Director, Akwa Ibom State Water Company, identified inadequate funding of water projects as a major factor inhibiting efforts to improve water supply to the people.

Ukpe told NAN in Uyo that government ought to exhibit enough political will to recognise the overriding importance of water as one of the basic necessities of life.

He noted that the 27 water stations, which were constructed across the state over 10 years ago, were currently in a deplorable state, yearning for rehabilitation.

He noted that in 2017, no provision was made in the budget for water projects in the state.

“Even in 2018, only N600 million is allocated for two water projects in Ikono and Ukanafun Local Government Areas,’’ he said, adding that inadequate finance had been frustrating efforts to expand water schemes in the state.

“About 10 years ago, during the tenure of former Gov. Victor Attah, the state government executed a water supply programme which was supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“Under the programme, water sources in 27 locations across eight to 10 local government areas of the state were developed.

“What remains is taking water from those sources to the people’s residences so that the residents can have access to potable water.

“A major challenge is finance; we have no funds to take the water to the people.

“We have seven water stations in the state taking care of the Uyo metropolis but unfortunately, there is no pipeline linking those water stations to the residents,’’ he added.

Ukpe also identified epileptic power supply as a major hindrance to the efforts of the company to move water to households in Akwa Ibom.

He said that the company largely relied on electricity generating sets to pump water for distribution to the people.

“Due to epileptic nature of electricity supply, we spend a lot of money on fuelling our generators to service the stations.

“It is very difficult to recover what we spend from customers, who pay little or nothing to get water. The problem also is that we are not metering the customers,” he said.

He, nonetheless, gave an assurance that Gov. Udom Emmanuel’s administration was making tangible efforts to improve water supply the citizens.

In Delta State, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Felix Tilije, said that the state government had earmarked N1.62 billion for water schemes in 2018.

He said that the government was already carrying out the rehabilitation of water schemes across the state so as to boost the supply of potable water to the citizens.

He also said that the state government had initiated a water bill for passage by the House of Assembly to attract private investors into the water sector, as part of efforts to revamp the sector and improve water supply.

However, Mr Emmanuel Odogwu, an engineer in the Ministry of Water Resources, said that the state government, through the ministry, had commenced the process of concessioning the Warri/Efurun water scheme to private operators.

NAN learnt that the ministry, with the approval of the State Executive Council, was currently rehabilitating 98 water schemes across the state in efforts to boost water supply to the people.