The long walk for water
What started as a sensitisation campaign was misunderstood as a protest and the Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) that championed it was left wondering what went wrong. On Wednesday, January 26, 2011, the Global Initiative for Women and Children (GIWAC) embarked on a walk to campaign for safe drinking water and sanitation in Kaduna State and […]
What started as a sensitisation campaign was misunderstood as a protest and the Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) that championed it was left wondering what went wrong. On Wednesday, January 26, 2011, the Global Initiative for Women and Children (GIWAC) embarked on a walk to campaign for safe drinking water and sanitation in Kaduna State and the activists started from the Murtala Mohammed Square and went to the state House of Assembly. At the state Assembly, GIWAC was warmly received but when the activists went to Government House, Kaduna, the seat of the executive arm of government, they met a hostile reception.
Water, according to a popular adage, sustains life but in Nigeria, more than 69 million people do not have access to clean water. Piqued by this worrisome statistics, GIWAC and the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Agency (WRAPA), decided to embark on a sensitisation walk to raise awareness. According to Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed Baba, the leader of GIWAC, the sources of clean water are constantly being threatened by contamination, with far reaching consequences for the health of children and for the economic and social development of communities and the nation as a whole. “Across the world, 884 million people do not have access to clean water, while in Nigeria, 69 million people do not have access to clean water, 103 million people do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities and 42 million practice open defecation,” she said.
Similarly, malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea, including cholera, typhoid and intestinal worms are the most common causes of death among children and the diseases are all related to water and sanitation. In order to arouse public consciousness and to galvanise the government into action, the activists went to the state assembly. Speaker, Alhaji Hassan Jumare, who was represented by Alhaji Muhammad Salisu Ahmed, the secretary of the Water Resources Committee, thanked the campaigners for their efforts. According to him, their presentation was timely and of paramount importance and that it will go a long way in creating awareness on water and sanitation in every nook and cranny of the state. This awareness, he pointed out, will obviously reduce the high risks of the outbreak of water borne diseases. The Speaker said that the House has a similar pending motion and that the legislators will look at the issues raised by GIWAC and incorporate them with theirs.
On that note, the activists continued their long walk to Government House, Kaduna, more than 10 kilometers from the state House of Assembly. However, on arriving the gate, the entire place was cordoned off by policemen who were armed to the teeth. For more than 30 minutes, the campaigners massed at the gate as there was no one to receive them. The police, on the other hand, kept sealed lips, neither answering nor asking questions but finally, retired Col Gabriel Dangana, the Special Adviser to Governor Patrick Yakowa on security matters, addressed the campaigners on behalf of the governor, promising to deliver the letter.
“We apologize for delaying you people because initially, we didn’t know what you were coming for but with this letter, on behalf of Governor Yakowa, I sincerely appreciate your concern for people to live because water is life. The governor of Kaduna state is doing everything to see that potable water is provided for the people just like the dam under construction in Zaria, which will cater for so many communities and local governments,” he said.
However, in spite of this platitude, the activists were not impressed. For example, most of them wondered why they should be barred from entering the Government House and the use of policemen to prevent an interface between the governed and the governor in a democracy. According to some GIWAC members, the government seems to misunderstand their sensitisation efforts with a protest march. Speaking to Sunady Trust, Hajiya Hafsat said that the objective of the walk was to intimate the governor on the KnowWatsan project funded by the European Union and implemented by the GIWAC.
“We came so that we can tell them what we are doing with funding from the European Union on water and sanitation and to call on the government to compliment our efforts, but we are being mistaken for protesters. We are not protesting. This is a walk of life just as we did to the state House of Assembly on the same matter,” she said
Hajiya Hafsat said that they sent a letter to the government house on the 6th of December, 2010, seeking audience with the executive and that she personally went to the Chief of Staff, photocopied the letter for follow-up and that she called him on Tuesday so that he could give them a clear way to come to government house.
“We sent letters to the Police, Road Safety and State Security Service (SSS) and that is why they are with us. But to our greatest surprise, we are being surrounded by men of the Operation Yaki,” she stressed.
Its objective, according to her, is to increase the knowledge of members of three target communities which include Kusfa in Zaria Local Government Area, Ungwar Sarki in Kaduna and Katual crossing in Kachia Local Government Area as well as the general public on water and sanitation issues.
However, when contacted, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Reuben Buhari, said that the campaigners were not barred from entering the government house, stating that they were received by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters because Governor Ibrahim Yakowa left with all key officers of the state to Lere for the burial of the late Emir of Lere.
He said that the campaigner’s letter has been delivered to the governor by the Special Adviser on security matters.
“They cannot be denied access to Government House because they are championing the same cause of development with the government.” Unwittingly, the dramatic manner with which the government prevented the activists access to Government House, by deploying policemen, has negated the fact that GIWAC and government are partners in progress.