How Zaria protest failed to quench residents’ thirst

It is a sad story to tell for many residents of Zaria. Water as a necessity for survival has continued to be their major frustration for many years. Wells, which most residents heavily relied on, have dried up as dry season is now at its peak. Tap water has been the dilemma of residents Zaria […]

It is a sad story to tell for many residents of Zaria. Water as a necessity for survival has continued to be their major frustration for many years. Wells, which most residents heavily relied on, have dried up as dry season is now at its peak. Tap water has been the dilemma of residents Zaria for a very long time. They now buy water from its vendors at an expensive rate. The few water vendors roaming the streets of Zaria do so with an aura of kings as demand for water increases.

This unending problem forced some youths of the old city to take to the streets to protest what they called total neglect and insincerity of leaders who have nothing to show for the billions of naira that both state and federal government reportedly released for the Zaria water project.

For more than two decades, residents told Weekly Trust, some areas of the ancient city have not seen a drop of water from their taps. What worsens the present condition, the residents say, is that most of the city’s wells have desiccated and this has left them with no alternative than to resort to fetching the water from streams and other unhygienic sources.

The protest which began around 7 am on the 28th of February started from Kofar Doka, through  Tudun Wada and terminated at Agwaro area of the city. The rioting youths barricaded the city’s main road that links the ancient city to Tudun Wada, Sabon Gari and Samaru. It however began to take violent dimension when the protesters started to set bonfires, chanting anti-PDP slogans while hailing CPC’s presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.

One of the protesters told Weekly Trust that they decided to revolt because all their pleas for the restoration of electricity and water supply in Kofar Doka and other parts of Zaria fell on deaf ears.

“In this part of Kofar Doka, we have been without electricity for the past seven months. As for tap water, since I relocated to this area in 1990 I have never seen tap water. Same thing applies to other parts of the city. I don’t know the type of government we are having in this country that doesn’t care about the need of its citizens. It is disheartening to know that even in Niger Republic, electricity is not a problem,” Sani Musa, one of the protesters, lamented to Weekly Trust.

He disclosed that a 25-litre Jeri-can of water now sells between N30 to N40. The worst predicament about the water crisis, residents say, is that the water vendors are not available everywhere. Where one finds them, a low income earner cannot afford the price, they cried. Going round Zaria town to assess the scarcity situation shows for instance, Barewa College, students roaming about searching for water from as early as 5 am. The students were seen trooping to the neighbouring communities in large numbers to fetch water.

“We don’t have tap water in the school. The school’s wells are all dry leaving us with no option than to come to town searching for water” a JSS III student tells our reporter. He went on, to say that the situation is affecting our studies is of course stating the obvious. We are now half students, half water vendors because every single drop we need has to be fetched from outside the school,” the Junior Secondary School  student told Weekly Trust while in a queue for water at the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic staff quarters’ borehole.

Residents have resorted to helping themselves. A farmer who uses River Kubanni for irrigation farming dug a borehole for this purpose. Going to Kubanni, one of the Zaria Rivers, in the morning or in the evening would provide one with a clear picture of Zaria’s water situation. Women and children in their hundreds besiege the river cite as the farmer allows the residents to fetch water from the borehole twice daily.

The communities inside the ancient city of Zaria are the worst affected by the water scarcity. Most of the solar-powered water systems which the state government constructed to help in lessening the sufferings of the residents are not functioning. Kaduna State, according to our investigation, had embarked on the construction of the solar- powered water system about two years ago in order to ease the perennial water scarcity which befell the ancient city since the past years. Unfortunately, most of these boreholes are now not functioning.

A reliable source at the Kaduna State Water Board told Weekly Trust that the unavailability of tap water in most areas of Zaria is due to a number of problems, including the decayed state of Zaria Dam, which is the main Dam of the city.

Our investigation from the Water Board revealed that the epileptic power supply worsened the water scarcity being experienced in Zaria. The government, the water board official said, is not supplying diesel for the board’s generators in order to have an alternative power supply to process the needed water.

Meanwhile, police drafted to the scene of the protest and as the protesters began to turn violent, the police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd when they began to turn violent. However, the protesters resisted the police action as they fired back by hurling stones and other objects at them.

The Zaria Area Commander of the Nigerian Police Force, Alhaji Kabiru Ibrahim, said that the police was not happy with how the protest over water and electricity scarcity turned political. “The protest began peacefully but later hoodlums hijacked it and began to pull down billboards and posters of politicians. We have arrested over 10 people and after investigation those who had nothing to do with the protest were released,” Alhaji Ibrahim said.

Kaduna State governor’s aide on Media, Mr Reuben Buhari, said Governor Patrick Yakowa is doing everything possible to ensure a continuous peaceful co-existence in Kaduna state. Since many parts of Zaria have been like this for over two decades while some areas have been without electricity for several months, the question that lingers now is, for how long would Zaria continue to patiently face this problem despite the billions of naira voted to tackle the water problem?