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Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
For the first time in the past 25 years in Oyo State, Governor Seyi Makinde has given a lifeline to the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) in the state, thereby becoming the first governor in the pace setter state since 1995 that bought water drilling rigs for the agency.
The chairman of RUWASSA, Najeem Omirinde, an engineer, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan on Thursday, insisted that no administration after 1995 bought water drilling rig for the agency, except the present administration.
He spoke against the backdrop of a statement attributed to Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, who served as governor in the state from 2007 to 2011, that his administration then bought rigs for the 33 local government areas of the state with a view to puncturing the earlier statement that no administration bought rigs for the state since 1995.
Omirinde stated that his assertion was clear on the fact that only the Governor Makinde-led administration deemed it fit to procure the machine after the long period of time, saying it was clear that Alao-Akala never bought rigs for the state, but used the local government money to buy for each local government.
According to him, the rigs bought by Alao-Akala were substandard, calling them ‘toy rigs’ that didn’t last six months before they developed fault. He added that the rigs RUWASSA has been using in the state were donated by United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).
His words: “Let’s put the record straight, Governor Makinde has made history as the first governor since 1995 that has approved the purchase of a standard, modern rig for Oyo RUWASSA. I wish to repeat it, no state administration bought rig for RUWASSA till now.
“What they claimed former governor Akala bought were ‘toy rigs’, bought from the account of the local government for the 33 local government areas then. The rigs RUWASSA has been using were donated by UNICEF and JICA and I am happy to tell you that those rigs are currently undergoing repair so as to serve the purpose of providing portable water alongside the one that has been ordered for by the government.
“I wish to add that the rigs bought during Akala’s period were not certified to be of good quality by Oyo State RUWASSA that has the authority to do that; let the general public visit each local government council to see if any of those is still working, or available.”
Omirinde, however, appreciated the Makinde-led administration in the state for ordering for a quality rig that, he said, could drill 100 metres within three hours, as against the ones bought for the local government areas in the past that, he said, could not drill 50 metres, adding: “What Akala bought for the 33 local government areas from their accounts could not last in a basement region like Oyo State; you can only manage such machines in a water-filled area like Lagos. Here in Oyo State, the rig must be powerful to penetrate the rocky layer.”
