‘Water vending difficult but rewarding’

Like pastoralists, water vendors move from one place to the other pushing two-wheel carts containing jerry cans of water which they supply to various communities suffering from water scarcity in Jos and its environs. Daily Trust had a chat with some of them. It is common to find local water vendors pushing two-wheel carts popularly […]

Like pastoralists, water vendors move from one place to the other pushing two-wheel carts containing jerry cans of water which they supply to various communities suffering from water scarcity in Jos and its environs. Daily Trust had a chat with some of them.
It is common to find local water vendors pushing two-wheel carts popularly called kura in Hausa language around certain areas of Jos city. Water is said to be expensive in Jos, thus water vending has become a lucrative business, according to some of the water vendors.
The business comes in a chain. There are those who supply the water who are called Masuruwa in Hausa, meaning those who own the water. People in this group own either a borehole or have large tanks which serve as reservoirs for water storage. The water is then sold to other tanker vendors as well as the two-wheel cart vendors at designated prices. They in turn sell the water to residents for domestic use and small businesses.
Many of the water vendors in Jos are said to have migrated from upper northern states; particularly Plateau’s nearest neighbour, Bauchi State. Ibrahim Tata who relocated to Jos only last week says a vendor is capable of making N800 during rainy season while during the dry season a vendor can make as much as N1,500 or more in a day.
“The life of a water vendor is rewarding and it has kept me afloat in my personal life for years. Water is expensive in Jos. Even during rainy season you find people buying water,” Tata said. 
Tata added that he makes between seven and eight trips in a day: “I sell a jerry can for N20 but if you want to buy the whole kura which has 10 jerry cans, that will cost N200 but during water scarcity we sell at N250 or even N300.”
The water vendors pay the sum of N30 to the water suppliers for every refill while N40 is paid when the water is dispensed from the reservoir.
On his part, UsmanAdamu who also hails from Bauchi said he has been in the business in the last five years. Adamu and other water vendors wake up before dawn to queue up by the borehole or reservoir to fill their jerry cans with water and then set off round the streets in search of those who will buy. Pushing the cart requires strength and mastering.
“It is like driving a car. You have to know that on a sloppy terrain you must go slowly and on a hilly terrain you have to push hard,and it is a business for the strong because each jerry can is about 25 litres and we carry from eight to 10 and sometimes 12 or 14 jerry cans of water,” Adamu explained.
Most of the cart pushers do not own the carts and have to make weekly returns of certain amount of money to the cart owners. Tata says he remits N500 to the cart owner on weekly basis, adding,“I have been able to buy some animals I am rearing now at home and I take care of myself and relatives with what I earn. So it is a good business and I am happy doing it.”
Alhaji Muhammad Kulla who sells water to vendors said he is able to sell to as many as 50 carts a day and a number of tanker vendors and other individuals.
“A lot of people come here to buy water, there are about fiver water selling ports in this community and people come from various communities where there is scarcity of water. Though it is not every day that water board releases water to the taps, even when water flows from the taps people still come to buy water because the public tap water may only last for a few hours,” he said.
Alhaji Kulla however said with the rainy season and more water flowing through the pipes, less number of people have turned up to buy water which he said had reduced their turnover in recent days. He said, “There is a separate price for water sellers. Our price is different from other residential users. The state government water board knows of our existence and we pay to them as an association of water buyers, not water consumers.” 
He said his is a challenging business, explaining, “The major challenge in this business is meeting aggressive people who come to buy water. You have to be patient with people because some people come here to display arrogance and you are not sure whether they want to buy or just fetch for free. Quite okay, we allow some people to fetch water for free but some people come here wanting to fight.”