The Ipad generation of Nigerian youths may find it difficult conceiving of water beyond sachet/bottled water and boreholes, but time was in this country when the taps actually flowed. In many parts of the country, as late as the early 90s, very early in the morning – or as dusk came calling – a siege of pails and buckets usually surrounded the taps mounted in strategic places nearly on every street in town, and daily water needs were met amid lively chatter and theatrics.
In the Pace Setter state, the last time anyone enjoyed such a luxury, as pipe-borne water would later sadly become, was in 1996. This is no surprise: both local and international observers agree that water and sanitation coverage rates in Nigeria are amongst the lowest in the world. On a national scale, access to an improved water source stagnated at 47 per cent from 1990 to 2006. It is no surprise then that conservative estimates cite access to adequate sanitation as decreasing from 39 per cent in 1990 to 35 per cent in 2010.
With no functional water supply in Oyo State, life rapidly deteriorated in the state. Open defecation even in the daytime and in the full glare of the public was routine, and Ibadan, the state capital, became almost synonymous with filth and degradation, even when it retained its lead position as a centre of commerce and intellectualism. The Water Corporation of Oyo state, a public corporation carved out of the Western Nigeria Water Corporation in 1976, always had seven directorates and four units, with its headquarters at the Secretariat, Ibadan and district offices located at Agodi, Bodija, Egbeda, Jericho, Oke-Ado, Ogbomoso, Oyo and Saki. It had a vision to ensure uninterrupted provision of potable water for the use of the people the state at reasonable charges, with clearly spelt out objectives of production and distribution of potable water for the use of human and agro-cultural purposes through construction, installation and operation of necessary water infrastructure on behalf of the Oyo State government. Among the other charges were, to control and manage all water works vested in the corporation; to establish, control, manage, extend and develop new schemes and to extend and develop existing ones as the corporation may deem necessary for the purpose of providing adequate water in order to meet the requirement of the general public, agriculture, trade and industry in various parts of Oyo State; to ensure that potable water is supplied to the consumer thereof at reasonable charges and in potable quality and adequate quantity and, finally, to organize the conduct of comprehensive research for the purpose corporation from time to time on matters relating to its function under law.
But has it supplied water in the last 17 years?
The first week of January 2014 came with great news for the people of Oyo State, as Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the state governor, commissioned the N262 million ultra-modern water treatment plant at the Asejire, ending the 17 years woe in the state and the neighbouring communities. With a production capacity of 186,000 cubic meters of water per day, the Asejire scheme is the largest water production scheme in the state, supplying potable water to 85 per cent of the entire populace in Ibadan metropolis, as well as the communities of Ikire, Ikoyi and Apomu in the neighbouring Osun State. The project, awarded just six months earlier by the state government as part of efforts towards increasing the volume of potable water supply to the people of Ibadan metropolis, saw eight out of the 10 pumps rehabilitated with 100 per cent efficiency, and critical water treatment units functioning well.
When the Ajimobi admnistration came on board, the water treatment plants in the state were operating at a miserly eight per cent capacity utilisation due, as the governor himself admitted during the commissioning of the Asejire scheme, to “un-imaginable neglect by past administrations and the managerial deficiencies of erstwhile operators.”
Water equipment was obsolete and decrepit, partly because spare parts for their maintenance were not available and supply was perpetually interrupted. And so following a needs analysis, Governor Ajimobi said, government awarded contracts for the construction of Ayete Water Supply Scheme, to supply water to Tapa, Idere and Ayete communities; dedicated a power line to Saki Water Supply Scheme and rehabilitated a dedicated power line to Ogbomoso water supply schemes.
It also extended pipelines to new areas throughout the state, upgrading of water treatment facilities at Koso and Atori Waterworks in Iseyin. What is more, the comprehensive replacement and repair of all electro-mechanical components at all water supply schemes and booster stations in the state, upgrading and rehabilitation of Oyo Water Supply Scheme, rehabilitation and upgrading of Igboho Water Supply Scheme, expansion works on Igbetti and Ogbomoso Water Supply Scheme, revalidation of construction of Ilero Water Supply Scheme and laying of New Rising Mains from Eruwa to Igboora (Phase I & II) all fitted smoothly into the administration’s plan to provide potable water to the masses of the state, long traumatised by visionless politicians in khaki or agbada. While eliminating the incidence of water-borne diseases, the plant can conveniently supply about 150 million litres of water to about four million residents of Ibadan and its environs on a daily basis.
Now, the functioning water supply schemes in Oyo State are Asejire, Eleyele, Eruwa , Oyo, Iseyin, Saki, Kisi, Ogbomoso and Igbeti Waterworks. Specifically, the projects approved, completed, on-going or about to be awarded include the following: reclaiming of Eleyele Waterworks after the flood incidence of year 2011; rehabilitation and upgrading of Asejire Water treatment plants and purchase and installation of modern analytical equipment for the state Central Laboratory, Asejire. Others are the purchase of water treatment chemicals as and when due; payment for electricity used as and when due; and relocation of pipes at Bodija Restoration Bridge, Mokola Fly-over Bridge, Eleyele/Dugbe Dualised Road, Efunsetan/Challenge Road, Iseyin Dualised Road and Ogbomoso Dualised Road; construction of Ayete/Tapa/Idere Water Supply Scheme; rehabilitation and expansion of Igbetti Water Supply Scheme; repair of filter beds and replacement of spent filter media at Oyo, Saki and Eruwa Water Supply Schemes; and rehabilitation of dedicated power line at Ogbomoso Water Supply Scheme. There is also the construction of dedicated power line at Saki Water Supply Scheme; construction of dedicated power line to Eruwa Water Supply Scheme; purchase and installation of electro-mechanical components for all water supply schemes throughout the state; purchase and installation of New High and Low Lift Pumps and 500KVA Generator for Eruwa Water Supply Scheme; electro-mechanical rehabilitation of Igboho Water Scheme and laying of new rising mains from Eruwa Water Supply Scheme to Igboora township (Phase I & II).
Others are bulk purchase of pipes and other repair materials; purchase and installation of 875/1000KVA generator for Agodi and Bodija booster stations respectively; upgrading of Koso and Atori Water Supply Schemes at Iseyin; extension of pipelines to new areas all over the state and construction of Ilero water supply schemes, and the purchase of computer sets and other accessories, the state having secured an African Development Bank loan for the urban water supply and sanitation for Ibadanland. There was also the purchase and Installation of gas plants for Asejire Water Supply Scheme and, of course, the construction of mini water supply schemes for other urban communities in the state.
With the massive infrastructural development ongoing in the state, the restoration of pipe-borne water is a fitting tribute to the vision of a competent manager of men and materials determined to institute a new order, and restore Oyo State to the path of progress charted by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
• Ismail lives in Ibadan, Oyo State.
