Nothing worries the men of Ijabisa, a community in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, more than the lack of water that has become a perennial problem to the community. Water scarcity has been the major challenge of the community since its forbearers settled on the land over a century ago. The community men are worried about the scarcity, not because they are the ones that do the fetching of the water, but because their wives who do the water fetching have most times become tired, abandoning their marriage and returning to their fathers’ houses.
“It happened to me,” the Chief of the community, Dauda Husseini, told AljazirahNigeria.
“My wife could not handle the rigorous stress of fetching water every day. One day, she packed her things and went back to her father’s house. If I hadn’t been following this one that I am married to, bumper to bumper, she would have gone too. I will not blame her because who wants to suffer?” he asked rhetorically.
The sources of water for the community are streams flowing through valleys. The water is said to be unhealthy for consumption, and the women have to wake up very early in the morning to fetch it; in fact, the better part of their morning is spent fetching water. The case is worse during the dry season when they have to go very far in search of water, as the streams used to dry up at that time.
Husseini noted that the modern-day women they are getting married to are not as strong as their mothers who could cope with the harshest living conditions. He bemoaned the constant refusal of women from neighbouring communities to marry their men, owing to their lack of water. “The women we have now are ‘Agric Women’. They can’t do hard work. They do little and get tired. When our young men approach them and they come down here and see what we are passing through, they decide to just quit the relationship,” he said.
He narrated with sadness that about five youths had approached him to complain on the same issue, and added that he was helpless and did not know how to save the situation. “I have tried to get some loans so that we could dig a borehole here. I was told that I would need over N600,000 for the job. The topography of this area is such that you’d have to dig very deep before you can get water. The wells we dig always dry up. It is a big challenge for us,” the chief lamented.
Husseini also expressed worry over the unhealthiness of the water, and added that the consumption of the water has made his people constantly sick with diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid. “As I am talking to you now, my mother is on drip. Three of my children are sick. One of them after being treated here was referred to a hospital in Kaduna State. Many of the people in my community do complain of this same thing. We are really in a difficult situation,” he lamented.
Corroborating the chief’s narration, Mohammed Sani Musa, another native of the community, told AljazirahNigeria that the first girl he wanted to marry from Jabi had said no to him because of the community’s lack of water. He added that though he ended up marrying a girl from the neighboring community, that rejection would forever be a constant reminder of what his community’s lack of water cost him.
Musa added that the increase in population and climate change makes the situation worse during the dry seasons when streams dry up, compelling the people to head to farther streams in search of water.
He further explained that those who had energy and patience could trek to Zhiko, a neighboring community, to get drinking water from the borehole donated to them by an NGO. He added that the borehole which is being operated through solar power was being overused, owing to the huge population that depends on it for water.
Musa confessed that his sad experiences with women over lack of water, prompted him to always assist his wife in fetching water, usually before going to work.
“I really don’t want my wife to leave me. She has to wake up early in the morning to fetch water and prepare the children for school. The water fetching takes a whole lot of time. What I do sometimes is to use my bike to get the water; I will tie the jerry cans to the bike. It helps us a lot,” explained Musa.
He added that apart from the fact that he did not want his wife to suffer, his religion, Islam, admonishes men to provide for their wives. Musa who is a driver with an organization in the city center, revealed however that he gets into trouble sometimes helping his wife as he arrives late to work at times.
He further revealed that they have written several letters to Bwari Area Council about the issue, and that nothing has been done yet to help the situation. “They only come to us when they need our votes during election. They gave us salt and Maggi, promised us heaven and earth but never fulfilled it. All the interventions we have been having are from NGOs. The only remarkable thing I can say the government did for us was the renovation of our primary school. But for water, we have always been on our own, and we need urgent help,” he complained further.
Another native of the community, Mama Amina, agreed with Musa on the urgent need for water in the community. The 56-year-old mother while narrating her experience in her 30 years of marriage stated that the experience was not a pleasant one.
“I always have pains all over my body. My neck and hands are always weak after I finish fetching water. I buy paracetamol (analgesic drug) all the time after fetching the water. I used to go like seven times to fill my drum (container). Even now that I have grandchildren, I still fetch, unless my grandchildren are here to help. If they are not, I do the fetching,” mama said. Mama who spoke through an interpreter, added that it is just the love she has for her husband that has kept her in the village amid the water challenge.
For 18-year old Halira Husseini, life in the community is exhausting with the elusive quest for water. Husseini who is a Junior Secondary School student bluntly stated that she would love to finish up her school and marry outside her village because “the suffering is too much.”
“I wake up early in the morning around 4: am to fetch water so that I can meet up with school. I attend school in Niger State because there is no secondary school around here. No matter how early I wake up, I still end up going late to school and getting punished for it. It is exhausting,” she lamented.
Ijabisa community is not alone in this hellish situation. Its neighbouring communities, Zhiko, Paspa and Goyipe have similar tales to tell. Apart from their scarcity problem, the road to the communities through Kubwa and Bwari are not motorable. These had made it difficult for the people to take their farm produce to the markets in Kubwa and Bwari. The villagers, who are predominantly farmers, often speak of bountiful harvest of guinea corn, millet, yam, soya beans, cassava and groundnut.
Another thing bothering the four communities is the lack of proper healthcare services. Speaking to AljazirahNigeria, the Chief of Zhiko, Bulus Wakili (JP), stated that the clinic that the four communities are managing is dilapidated with no facilities or staff.
“The only staff we have, a nurse, decided to go back to school. The other person who manages to come is based in Niger State. When we fall sick at night, we are on our own. It is only God that will help us. That was how we lost Thomas’s pregnant wife and our youth leader,” he said.
The chief narrated that the cases of the youth leader, Solomon Zaka, and the pregnant woman were similar as both had fallen ill during the night and were unable to promptly get to hospital in Kubwa due to the poor road and long distance between the two places.
He revealed that some missionaries like the Daughters of Charity Congregation, had earlier opened a clinic in the locality, but that the bad road to the village had hindered them from continuing with the health services they were rendering to the community.
“One day, I and the Chief of Ijabisa had gone to Kubwa to get some drug and we were accosted by thieves. They beat the hell out of us. That is what we are facing,” he lamented.
Also speaking, the Waziri of Paspa, Hon. Muhammed Gyanyi Paspa, said that apart from the lack of potable water and inaccessible roads, the communities were in dire need of a secondary school.
Gyanyi who appreciates the importance of education as he had gone to Nasarawa to get a ‘degree’ at old age, lamented that many of their children have become drop-outs due to the distance they trek daily to school.
He revealed that the four communities have agreed to allocate a large plot of land to the secondary school project. He further disclosed that they had informed the area council, and that after the delegation from the council had come to see the land, yet nothing has so far been said about the school project.
“We got 2 hectares of land. We have even spoken with the owners of the land and they said we will give them N1.5m settlement. We really need this school to encourage our children to further their education. They always ask ‘if we finish primary school, what next?’ It is really troubling for us,” he said.
It is very pertinent that the FCTA and Bwari governments come to the aid of these indigenious people of Abuja, the federal capital.
Source: Aljazirah Nigeria