For two decades, residents of Ugboha in Esan South East Local Government Area relied on streams and rivers for drinking water, as promises of a functional water scheme remained unfulfilled.
Now, clean water finally flows in the community following a comprehensive overhaul of the Ugboha Water Scheme by Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo.
Originally launched in 2005 as the Northern Ishan Water Supply Project under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the scheme was designed to deliver nine million litres of water daily to communities across three local government areas in Edo Central.
The project, jointly funded by the European Union, the federal government, and Edo State, was initially awarded for ₦2.2 billion but later rose to ₦3.5 billion.
Despite being listed as completed in 2018 and previously flagged as done during the administrations of Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, the scheme never provided potable water.
It became a recurring campaign promise, with residents forced to depend on the Edewe River for survival.
At one point, former Governor Adams Oshiomhole publicly challenged the federal government to show evidence of the ₦2.4 billion project, accusing the PDP-led administration of misrepresentation.
Governor Okpebholo’s intervention has now turned the long-abandoned facility into a functional water source, bringing relief and optimism to Ugboha and surrounding communities.
“The problem we have today is that in the books of Abuja, PDP says they have brought water to Esanland. If you ask the Onojie of Ugboha, the Onojie of Uromi and all the other Onojies in Esanland, they will tell you that there is no water in Esanland. They came to my office and said they are not going to allow the Vice President to come.”
In 2017, then Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, promised that the project would be commissioned in 2018. The Adamu visited Edo State to commission the project in 2018, residents of Ugboha and environs stopped the project from being commissioned insisting that the project was yet to be completed.
The Minister headed to Benin City and handed over documents of the project to then Governor Godwin Obaseki. It was gathered that the federal government considered the project done because its aspect of the project was building of the facilities and not to reticulate to various communities.
In 2019, Obaseki flagged-off the water reticulation aspect of the project. Speaking at the ceremony, he said,
“We have inspected several projects but the main project is building the water gathering system at Ugboha. It is a facility that takes water from Ugboha River into the pumping stations and then into the storage tanks.
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“The Federal Government project ended with the building of the facilities and not the reticulation. What was handed over to us was the facilities to first gather the water and move it into the central storage facilities.”
However, water from the project was reticulated to some communities but not in Ugboha. Today, water now flows in Ugboha after 20 years of anticipation. Governor Monday Okpebholo’s comprehensive overhaul of the Ugboha Water Supply Scheme has restored full water reticulation to Ugboha and parts of Uromi and Irrua.
Managing Director of the Edo State Urban Water Corporation, Mr. Uyi Ekhosuehi, who visited the project site last week, said residents of Ugboha, the host community, now have access uninterrupted access to safe, treated water for the first time since the scheme’s establishment.
Ekhosuehi said the use of substandard materials by a previous contractor crippled the scheme.
He listed facilities overhauled in the scheme to include automation of the treatment and filtration plants, the pumping house fitted with high-pressure systems; and the replacement of faulty UPVC pipes with heavy-duty ductile industrial pipes to ensure durability and reliability.
According to him, “Ugboha never benefited from this project when it was originally executed. Substandard pipes were used, mixing UPVC with ductile materials, which resulted in persistent leakages. The dam itself had suffered decades of poor maintenance.
“Governor Okpebholo insisted that this project would not be abandoned. He approved a complete turnaround maintenance, which has delivered a new fully automated filtration plant, high-pressure pumping systems, and durable ductile industrial pipes capable of carrying primary water for reticulation.
“With the host community now connected, the Corporation has commenced extension works to cover other parts of Uromi and Uwesan. All necessary pipes and fittings have been delivered, with full connection to be completed in the coming weeks. Restoration plan will soon extend to Irrua, Ekpoma, Iruekpen, Illeh, and environs, while design works are ongoing to reactivate the Ojirami and Ikpoba River dams to strengthen supply across Edo North and South.
“Our target is clear: within the next five to six years, Governor Okpebholo wants to end the water challenge across Edo State,” he affirmed. “We are also working on restoring water to Agbede in Edo North and Sakponba in Edo South. This administration is determined to ensure that every Edo citizen, urban or rural, has access to safe, affordable water.”
Speaking on partial commercialisation of the scheme, Ekhosuehi explained that the initiative was designed to prevent wastage in urban areas while maintaining free access for rural communities.
Urban households, according to him. will pay a tariff of about six hundred naira per thousand litres—a dramatic reduction from the thirty-five thousand naira residents previously spent on tanker supplies.
“This system has encouraged ownership and reduced waste. Rural dwellers fetch water free of charge from designated discharge points.”
Residents in Ugboha expressed joy that their years of suffering by going to the river to get water has ended.
