Sokoto Residents Say Lawmaker’s Project Eases Water Scarcity In Communities

Nura Aliyu, 42, smiles as he recalls what he termed the season of water scarcity in his community. It’s been seven months since he stopped buying water from vendors popularly called “Mairuwa.”

Like many other residents, Mr Aliyu benefits from the solar-powered borehole built in his community earlier in 2021 as part of Senator Aliyu Wamakko’s zonal intervention projects.

Mr Aliyu lives in Kofar Kware, a remote community in Sokoto State, Northwest Nigeria, that has suffered water scarcity for years.

“Everybody in this community buys water from “mairuwa”, which is not as clean as the borehole we’re drinking now. This water has been saving our lives and made us escape water scarcity more than seven months ago after its construction,” he said.

Water scarcity is one of the significant challenges in some parts of Nigeria. In Sokoto, safe and potable water remains a luxury, particularly in rural communities like Kofar Kware.

About 60 million Nigerians, equivalent to 30 per cent of the population, do not have access to clean water, and Sokoto state has the lowest level of primary access with 38 per cent, according to a report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2019.

The borehole project

To ease the burden of water scarcity in some areas in Sokoto North senatorial district, Mr Wamakko nominated the construction of boreholes in some selected communities, including Kofar Kware.

The project was allocated N32 million and was placed under the supervision of the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA).

UDEME gathered that these solar-powered boreholes were located in three communities of Sokoto North Senatorial District. Apart from the one at Kofar Kware, other water projects were found at Islamiyyah School, Hubbare, and Sarika Baki.

Residents of these communities said the boreholes are working well and are easing the water scarcity.

At Kofar Kware, UDEME noticed that the project was executed with the construction of three dispensing taps and one overhead tank.

Borehole project beams changes – residents 

Before the borehole was constructed at the Hubbare School area, the difficulty that water scarcity caused residents was the same experience as that of Kofar Kware. But the solar-powered borehole has erased the challenges.

Nura Aliyu, a resident of Hubbare, said the borehole is helpful for many things and has stopped water scarcity.

“I heard that the borehole was facilitated by Senator Wammako, and it’s been working without any problems for six to seven months now,” he said.

Abdulkadir Karibullahi, also a resident, recalls the time past while appreciating the ease of getting water from the borehole.

“We are very happy about the borehole because it has changed the way things were in this community before. Most of us suffered before getting water for our daily activities, but the borehole has been favourable to us all,” he said.

Many other residents of the communities spoke in agreement. UDEME could not speak to female beneficiaries of these projects as women are restricted from speaking by their husbands for cultural reasons.

UDEME tried to reach the lawmaker to seek his reaction to the feedback, but repeated calls and messages were not replied to.