• Citizens, FCT water board at loggerheads

From Idu Jude, Abuja

Seventy-two-year-old Maria Jeremiah is a resident of Dagbana, Jikwoyi Phase 11, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Her entire life was without portable water. She has survived all these years, through supplies from boreholes to drink and for other household chores.

She is not happy that the FCT Administration is laying pipes for portable water in the area after several years of expectation. Year-in, year-out, administrations have made promises but failed to fulfil them.

Jeremiah said: “Do you know the meaning of Dagbana in the Gbagyi Language? It means a place where the elephant drinks water. Which means that this place was once a river basin. But today, there is nothing to drink. Government never thought of doing the needful until the 2023 general elections caused great upset.

“Sen. Philip Aduda lost his seat and the Labour Party (LP) won the FCT. That’s why they are pretending to love us now that another council election comes by 2026.”

The ongoing rural water project in the six area councils of the FCT is enveloped in controversies. Some believe the project has no specific season set aside by the government, to bring it close to the indigenes. Others see it as a decoy to persuade indigent people to vote for the ruling APC in the 2026 area council chairmanship election.

Mr Ozo Johnson, aka Akanchawa, a resident, said: “Sadly enough, this is not the first time the rumour of the provision of portable water has greeted the air here, as we are tired of it. To show you that it may be a fluke, the area council election is just a few months away, so why now?

“Again, take a look at the road network to the village itself. Does it look like there is sincere leadership around here? If they are sincere, they should first of all think of grading the road and making it passable. The village is an integral part of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), one of the richest local governments in Nigeria.”

Dr. Emmanuel Ochiagha, member, Society of Civil Engineers in Nigeria, said: “As a civil engineer, laying the pipes without determining the measurements of the road and water drainage system is utterly wrong. I say this because the pipes being laid now must be tempered with anytime the road construction begins.

“That is why I felt bad when I saw the terrible jobs being done. I have measured the size of the road and have determined that they are not being sincere about doing a permanent job. We wait to see if the water project becomes a reality.”

Abdul Rahim Dogo, works with the FCT Water Board. He responded: “I am tired of this country my brother. Sometimes, they cried out, ‘no water.’ Now the water project is ongoing, and at least we see a minister who is committed to laying pipes ready to pump water. What I hear daily is annoying. Some even accuse us of collaborating with the APC to win the election in FCT come 2027.

“The fact remains that there is no specified time for the ongoing project. Government executes projects according to the budget line, procurement policy, and in line with the release of funds. So, how can they say that the project is politically motivated?”

Ibrahim Dobi, a staff of the FCT Water Board, agrees that there have been lapses in the provision of portable water in the FCT: “The issue of the lack of portable water in the FCT rural areas is as old as Abuja itself. Is it not an aberration that some villages in Nigeria’s capital city drink from boreholes drilled and donated by the missionaries?

“Then I ask, where is the government? When people read meaning into the project, linking it as part of the APC campaign for the forthcoming area council election, then I can say there is an element of truth in it.”