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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
For over 10 years, Kamadi community in Kwali Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, has been facing water scarcity.
The dry and rainy seasons come with their distinct challenges in terms of portable water availability. In the dry season, everywhere is likened to a desert. The wells are dried up.
Women and children walk long distances in search of water. The search, is like a gamble: sometimes they are lucky to get water. Other times, they are unfortunate.
During the wet season, the wells are dirty and the water becomes unhygienic. Waterborne diseases take a toll on the residents.
Families who cannot stomach dehydration, rely on alum, a chemical used in water treatment.
They have been sequestered. All they have been getting from their lawmakers are assurances and promises that never came to fruition. They only see their representatives during election cycles.
Just when they thought all hope was lost, the Care and Inspire Foundation quenched their thirst by providing an ultramodern solar-powered borehole for them. Then the community came alive. There was dancing and showers of encomiums on the foundation.
Founder of the initiative, Nkiru Adejoh, said she and her team were led by God to assist the downtrodden, and not for showmanship or for political gains.
Beyond that, she said the benevolence aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) number 6, which encourages clean water and sanitation.
Adejoh lamented that it was disheartening that millions of Nigerians still grapple with basic amenities like water, healthcare and conducive learning environment, despite the abundance of natural resources in the country and the voting of billions of naira by the government to cater for the welfare of citizens.
“I do not have any political ambition, she declared , saying “I am a civil servant and I do not have any monetary interest as well.
“We are not doing this because we have interest or we are expecting people to clap for us or to make us public figures.
“But we are doing this because God has sent us on an assignment, like I said. It is not by any means of a political ambition and it is not by any means of a personal interest where you want to amass wealth to yourself or where you want to also put it as a business venture. No, nothing close to it.
“This is about God and fulfilling his mandate. And while we do that we also have this joy in our minds and fulfillment that at the end of the day and at the end of this life, what have you been able to do amongst the people around you who were vulnerable?
“What have you been able to do in the society and the communities who also would need these social amenities.? These are things we are not supposed to be begging for.
“Our mission is to reach out to the vulnerable and to reach out to the underserved communities. The ones that lack the healthcare, the welfare that is supposed to be given and to also close the gap in social equity.”
She added: “This project is not about any fulfillment of NGO or to make it a public entity but we are doing this because God has sent us to meet His agenda on earth and to touch lives. And so this project is to enrich the people, promote welfare, reduce poverty and also be able to affect and impart life in any collaborative way that we can.”
On how she was able to identify the indigent community, Adejoh explained that in October last year, she said she embarked on a research alongside her team, to assist the most indigent community in the FCT. Beyond that, she said she engaged stakeholders of different communities and they unanimously settled for Kamadi community.
She said: “We did a stakeholder engagement with different communities. We even had to go through the media to identify people that are suffering from illnesses or diseases as a result of bad water. So, we were able to settle for the Kamadi community.
“They are natural resources. If we have the heart to collaborate to meet people, we will be able to do as much as we can.”
She declined to divulge the cost implication of the project, saying that was not necessary as it was done to alleviate the sufferings of the people and not to throw figures around.
She further said: “To put out the figure here I don’t think it’s important or necessary for me because it is a public knowledge. You can just research about what it takes to put up a solar powered borehole.”
Adejoh appealed to members of the community to gingerly handle and maintain the project.
“To be able to maintain this, of course, we have already handed it over to the chiefs. And they also know that this is one investment that has come to them and one prosperity that has come to them which they do not even want to joke with.
“The reason we chose solar is because we do not need any human assistance again. We do not need them to start spending further money to be able to power any generator, to pump anything.
“For any solar energy, the sun, the wind, will supply whatever they want. Freely, they just get their water from the tap.
“So, the maintenance and sustainability, I think the chief and his cabinet will be able to know how to maintain orderliness and also not to break down the projects.”
On the sustainability of development projects across the country, she charged local government chairmen to wake up to their responsibilities.
“The local government chairmen should be able to touch lives at the grassroots. They should go into the communities and find what is truly lacking in terms of this free social welfare. Things that would not take a whole lot to impact lives.
“Good water will also prevent sickness, it will also prevent diseases, it will prevent all manner of attacks in human beings and all that, and also bring other prosperity like education.
“I think the government has what it takes, and they have been doing in their bit whatever they are doing, which is also covering some areas.
“But I think there is a whole lot more that we can do. But besides government, individually, we can collaborate and come together.
“Because waiting for government to develop the people around us will be maybe waiting forever.
“So if you see government not doing it, collaborative effort will do it, not just one person’s idea. You bring resources together and improve one another, especially people that cannot afford it,” she stated.
Coordinator of the project, Mike Ebu, said the topography of the terrain was hard, saying the drillers dug more than 130 metres before they were able to get water.
In his response, Aguma of Kamadi community, Amodu Daudu, said he was happy with the development. He thanked the Care and Inspire Foundation for the humanitarian gesture, saying that the founder had wiped their tears.
Also, representative of the District Head, Yusuf Etsu, Zakaria Adamu, just like Oliver Twist, asked for more by soliciting the establishment of a functional healthcare system and a school for their children.
Adamu said: “We are requesting for more. We need schools and hospitals. On behalf of my superiors, I hereby commend your work and your effort to the development of the people of Kamadi community. We are very grateful.
“God said blessing must come from somewhere else and today we are blessed.”
