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Re-discovering Water in Kano

Suleiman Haruna

I can remember vividly during my early years how children played under running taps of first class clean water in their houses, and those who do not have in their houses had unfettered access to public taps installed within every kilometer or so. This water was treated to internationally approved world health standards before distribution so diarrhea and other water borne diseases then had more to do with sanitation. Ruminating over this state of affairs gives cause for nostalgia. The utter decay of our infrastructure in the face of allocations of billions of naira, which find their way into deep personal pockets, is sad indeed! Hope was gradually ebbing on the possibility that one day; the scarcity of potable water may be a thing of the past. It takes courage, knowledge, vision and ambition to conquer a challenge, especially a monumental one that has developed tap roots. The challenge of water scarcity can be a nightmare for any leader who has a pint of conscience left in him. It can also scare away the fickle hearted to utter resignation. This explains why today only few of the 36 states and FCT have been able to attack this problem head-on. There is hardly any state that can boast of successfully providing adequate potable water to a majority of its population. In fact it can be safely said that of the 140 million people of Nigeria, only an insignificant number have access to treated water, even though we have millions of boreholes constructed in all corners of the nation and in all vegetations and climes, thus depleting groundwater resources, which take long to replace. It is better and cheaper, however, using fresh water from streams and rivers, where they are available, to produce safer and more enduring water. The problem of water scarcity manifests more in states that have high population density, where the demand for water is always high. Kano for instance has a daily requirement of 550 million liters of water but has only been able to meet about half of that demand.

The problem is compounded by deteriorating facilities, especially the reticulation, which has remained more or less the same since 1932. The various upgrades conducted by former Governments did not by any means come close to providing the almost 10 million people of Kano with water. In fact there are places within Kano metropolis that have had dry taps for almost twenty years and to them, tap water means the one from 20 liter jerry cans that they buy for between 15-30 naira. Kano is reported to provide its citizens with 23.5% pipe borne water, 16.5% bore hole, 44% well water. The remaining 16% covers water sourced from vendors, ponds and rivers as well as untreated pipe borne water.20% of these sources are unsafe for human use. (Nigerian Statistical fact sheets 2005) The debate over water scarcity has always been like that of electricity; that because consumers have refused to pay their bills the system has broken down. The fact however, is that any genuinely fulfilling service will attract patronage from consumers. But a system whose service is erratic and on which the consumer has lost confidence will never attract patronage. In other words the service has to be provided satisfactorily for consumers to pay their bills. What had happened over the years was that the water board served as a milking cow for various former governors. Besides corruption, there was also administrative lethargy, and misplacement of priorities. Kano has had the opportunity of electing a water engineer as governor, at a crucial time when his experience was expedient in turning the problem around, but its water problems did not abate. Other governors who had fewer reasons to be interested in potable water supply did much better. By the time Audu Bako left Government, Kano has carved a niche for itself as the best in terms of water resources development in Nigeria. This glory, albeit hollow, is still extant. Perhaps it is poignant that 40 years on with a blossoming population, Kano should be starved of water, both for its domestic and industrial requirements. It is however heartening that today its glory is set to return as water scarcity will soon be overcome. This is so because for once in many years every tap in Kano will run and every industry will have enough water for its needs. The multitudes of our population will have jobs to do and the health record as well as the economic boom of Kano will return. Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, whom God has endowed with another four-year term, has succeeded in alleviating the age old water scarcity of Kano through the Tamburawa water works, a modern, state of the art facility which is capable of irrigating the age-old thirst of the metropolis with an additional 150 million liters per day. This is an outstanding achievement considering that the daily average individual consumption of Kano will improve dramatically. Also significant is that the spate of water borne diseases will witness a remarkable drop.

While congratulating the people of Kano on this positive state of affairs, it is pertinent to draw their attention to a significant issue. As a result of the years of dry taps, it would be wise for them to save some money ahead of this water rush, to take care of leakages and rusty pipes. It is important for the citizens to show appreciation to the state Government by promptly settling water bills. This would surely encourage Governor Shekarau to pursue the upgrade of the entire reticulation of the state; and eventually the next big one, which is the independent power project to be completed, we hope, before 2011, the Governor’s exit date.

A crucial issue that requires Governor Shekarau’s attention is that as at today there are thousands of Kano indigenes who have spent the last 30 years living as water hawkers. Through this trade, they have sustained their families and even sent their children to school. There is need to ensure that these groups of people do not feel disenfranchised by the abundance of water, which is bound to take away their source of livelihood, by providing them with workable alternatives. It is positive commentary that the people of Kano can account by themselves for the billions of Naira allocated to the state by the Federal Government and their Governor stands as a shining example of a servant leader and as a beacon to other governors who are still tottering in the bewilderment of power. I am of the strong belief that the combination of employment generation, provision of water and that of electricity are the immediate ingredients that will catapult Kano back to a position of glory and greatness such that by next year, the national poverty level would rate Kano higher than its present 71% (National Bureau of Statistics). ## Suleiman Haruna writes from Federal Ministry of Information and Communications, Garki – Abuja.