So much water, but none to drink in Jibia

Life is not easy for the people of Jibia town in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State, following an acute shortage of water being experienced by the inhabitants, Sunday Trust observed. It appears that nationals of the neighbouring Niger Republic have taken over the responsibility of Katsina State Water Board, as presently they are […]

Life is not easy for the people of Jibia town in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State, following an acute shortage of water being experienced by the inhabitants, Sunday Trust observed.

It appears that nationals of the neighbouring Niger Republic have taken over the responsibility of Katsina State Water Board, as presently they are the major suppliers of drinking water to the community in Jibia and environs.

These Nigerienes could be seen pushing carts with jerry cans selling drinking water in Jibia town and environs. They fetched it from the only source of water in the town: Jibia Bridge located at the entrance of the town.

These water vendors could be seen in dozens under the Jibia bridge filling their jerry cans with water for onward conveyance to residents of Jibia town and environs.

Sunday Trust gathered that a 30-litre jerry can of water is being sold at N20, while a 25 litre jerry can stood at N15 when the demand of water is high in the town.

Musa Abu is a water vendor who came to Jibia all the way from Niger Republic to sell water. He told Sunday Trust that “this is my first time of coming to Jibia to sell water. I am indeed grateful to God because I found the business so lucrative.”

His words “I am really enjoying the business even though it is a kind of job that needs a lot of sacrifices and it involves exhausting our energy. We are better off here than staying in Niger doing nothing for our living.”

He explained that he was generating up to N2,000 per day when there was high need for water but when the need was low he could only generate between N1,000 and N1,300 a day after settling the cart owner.

Another vendor, Sani Isyaku, 15, told Sunday Trust that he paid N20 to fill his eight jerry can cart, adding that he had to also pay N5 to some boys around to help him push the cart out of the bumpy area where they were fetching the water.

“I am conveying between 7 and 10 carts every day. I am supplying about 12 houses with drinking water in Jibia town daily. I am in my second year in this business. I only go back to Niger Republic during rainy season,” he said.

Alhaji Yusuf Rabo is a resident of Jibia town and he narrated his ordeal to Sunday Trust in the acute water shortage bedevilling the town. Jibia said “we are seriously facing difficulties due to persistent water scarcity in this area.”

Rabo explained that as the bread winner of his family, he was spending between N400 to N500 on water daily. His words “I am buying two water carts containing 14 jerry cans for our daily consumption.”

Malam Sulaiman Abdu is a Qur’anic school teacher in Jibia. He told our correspondent that he did not buy water because his disciples provide him with water every day. Abdu said “My own is different because I am not buying water. However, my disciples suffer before they get water for my family.”

“You can hardly see water from our taps these days. If we are lucky to have it today, we will spend five days before we can see it again. The situation has been like that recently. Unless there is electricity, you cannot fetch water from your tap,” he said.

Lawal Shu’aibu Jibia is one of the water vendors at Jibia Bridge. He explained that he sold water to vendors at N20 per cart. Jibia also reaffirmed that the business of water in Jibia town was profitable.

“If you have your generating set ready you can make money here without difficultly. That is  you don’t feel big to stay here and take care of your business. With the little we are collecting from cart pushers, we are eking out our living here,” he said.

However, the most unfortunate aspect of the situation is that the acute water shortage persists in the town in spite of the existence of Jibia dam and a water treatment plant constructed 20 years ago.

Jibia dam, Sunday Trust learnt has 142 million cubic metres capacity, while the water treatment plant provides 12,000 cubic metres of water daily. The two projects were commissioned in 1992 by the General Ibrahim Babangida-administration.

Checks at the dam by Sunday Trust, however, indicatee that the dam is in its full capacity presently. The water treatment on the other hand was also functioning but it cannot pump water to Jibia inhabitants unless there is electricity supply from the Power Holding Company (PHCN).

Alhaji Safiyanu Sani, the Production Manager at the plant, confirmed that water is only pumped to the communities when there was electricity supply.

Sani explained that “non-availability of power is seriously affecting their activities. Jibia local government council was assisting us with diesel monthly. But because we have been without local government sole administrators in the state, there is no source of funds for the diesel again.”