The Doka community in Birshi Ward in the Bauchi Local Government Area of Bauchi State has heaved a sigh of relief as the Redeemed Christian Church of God has provided them with their first borehole after 50 years of being in existence.
This is to address the acute water scarcity the community, which is about two kilometres away from the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, has been facing for several years.
“This community has been in existence for over 50 years but as I speak with you, this is the first borehole the community is seeing today,” the elated Doka community chairman, Lawi Samuel, said in his speech at the inauguration of the project.
Samuel expressed gratitude to the RCCG for the wonderful and kind gesture saying, “… what the government could not do for us, the Church has done for us. And I thank God that our councillor is personally here and he should take this message to the state governor and I believe something better will be done for us.”
Also speaking, the Mai Anguwam Doka, Yohanna Daniel, represented by Yusuf Abarshi, expressed gratitude to the RCCG for providing them with water, lamenting that the community had been in existence without government presence except for the electricity they have.
He said: “This community has lacked basic social amenities for over 50 years. We have no government school, we have no access road, we have no maternity. Anytime it is the rainy season, our pregnant women don’t find it easy accessing healthcare, especially because of the bad roads we have.”
In a brief remark, the councillor representing Birshi Ward, Rilwanu Sabo, claimed ignorance of the lack of water in the community saying that, “the community has never written to me to inform me of its lack of borehole.”
Speaking on the lack of maternity hospital in the area, he assured that, “I have written to the state government about your lack of maternity (hospital) and I can assure you that it is in the process and very soon, by God’s grace, you will have your own maternity (hospital).
“I have also received your complain about your road and the bridge, I have also made serious efforts: I wrote a letter and sent it to the government and we are still waiting for their response.”
He expressed gratitude to the RCCG for providing water, saying “What we, as a government, ought to have done, people who are not government came and executed. Water is life and it is important, especially in times like this, for a community like this because if this is not available, people will continue to drink contaminated water and this can cause diseases.
In his speech shortly before the inauguration of the project, the Special Assistant to the RCCG General Overseer on Personnel, Pastor Julius Olalekan, expressed gratitude to God for enabling the Church to provide water for the community.
Olalekan, who is also the Pastor-in-charge of Region 17 of Bauchi, Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Yobe and Taraba states of the North-East, said the project was executed through the Corporate Social Responsibility of the RCCG.
