In this report, VICTOR AYENI writes on the ordeals of Nigerians without access to potable water and the tragedies that have occurred as a result
Charles Thomas was roused from sleep around 5am. He bristled with anger as he looked up at the wall clock, knowing full well that he had woken up late to get a good place to get water for domestic use.
Thomas lives in Datti, a rustic community in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.
In this area, more than a thousand residents depend on the only source of water available for drinking and washing –wells.
Residents, who wish to find a good spot to draw water from few available wells, particularly during the dry seasons, have to wake up as early as 2am or 3am.
It is often a struggle between the strong and the early risers.
With a tone of resignation, Thomas described to our correspondent the hurdles he endured daily in order to obtain water.
He said, “We have tap water in the area, but it is not consistent, so we depend on our wells. The wells lack proper facilities; some of them don’t even have covers.
“Residents use the water for drinking, cooking, and most people just fetch the water like that without any form of treatment and there has been an outbreak of typhoid in our area.
“The women who use these wells are always conscious about their children falling into these wells because the wells are mostly open. There is only one borehole in the entire area, but it is privately owned and inaccessible.”
‘The water looked like tea’
For Kenneth Anietimfon, a resident of Tinuoye, a community in the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State, potable water is a luxury that only the elite enjoy.
“We have two wells in my area and one of these wells is right here where I live. At least 20 houses depend on this well for drinking, cooking, and other things.
“During the dry season, there’s a reduction in the water quantity and the water quality is often poor, even muddy sometimes. The water sometimes looks like tea yet people have no choice but to fetch it like that and allow it to settle down.
“For the past few months now, we have not been having so much water to draw from the well, so if you don’t come out early in the morning, you may not have any water to use for the whole day,” he complained.
Anietimfon noted that despite the measures taken by the people to secure the well which was beside a gutter, it was not safe from the intrusion of animals or insects.
“Recently, I went to this well to fetch water very early in the morning before dawn. Later in the morning when I wanted to make use of the water, I just discovered a dead lizard.
“And if we could find a lizard in there, that means there will also be cockroaches and other things in there as well,” he said with disgust in his voice.
Not only does the well water pose danger to public health, but residents of the area are also displeased when they use the water for washing their clothes due to its hardness.
“The first time I tasted the water, I remember how it tasted unpalatable. The water doesn’t lather with soap and when you wash, it makes it difficult as well; but we don’t have a better option. There is no form of community help from the LGA chairman or plan to build a borehole for residents,” Anietimfon added.
Children are affected
Abayomi Samuel, a resident of Ligali village, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, told our correspondent that the settlement, with a population of over 2,000 people, depended on water from wells.
He said, “The population here is estimated to be more than 2,000 residents, but during the dry season, there is a desperate search for water as many here depend on wells. Children have to trek a far distance to fetch water from boreholes and this affects their schooling because by the time they get back home, they are either too exhausted to go to school or they go there to sleep.
“Even at that, the water doesn’t go around because the borehole is owned by an individual and whenever the wells dry up during the dry season, animals usually fall into them, especially lizards.”
Potable water lacking
In Nigeria, domestic wells are a common source of groundwater explored to meet the water needs of communities.
Residents heavily depend on the wells due to a collective lack of access to potable water.
A research expert, Doris Sasu, noted that some of the most common sources of drinking water in Nigeria were tube wells, boreholes, and dug wells.
These water sources are also contingent on the prevailing seasons.
Given the limited reach of pipe-borne water, much of the water vended is likely to also originate from below the ground.
In various cities, hand-dug wells are common, but boreholes and manually drilled wells are a growing phenomenon.
A graduate, Victor Beba, who resided in the Markurdi-Enugu area of Benue State, explained that although residents did not suffer as much as other places to obtain water, most of the people absolutely depended on wells.
He said, “I’ve lived in a number of communities in Benue and Nasarawa states. If there’s anything common in all of them, it is the lack of access to good water. We depend on well water for basically everything — drinking, cooking, bathing and what have you.
“Luckily for us, we don’t suffer that much to get water when compared to other places. More than 75 per cent of the houses in my community used to have well water. However, during the dry season, some of the wells dry up. Notwithstanding, the situation is not that bad as we do not have to wake up at ungodly hours just to get water.
“The entire community used to be a swamp, so most of the wells do not dry up completely during the dry season; they still bring out water. In most of these wells, it takes less than an hour or two for the water to replenish itself and it’s being used up. And our wells are relatively clean; some are good for drinking, while others aren’t.”
Beba, however, told our correspondent that some other areas were not that fortunate.
“In the nearby Federal Housing Estate, the rocks beneath are very hard to break and so most people either get water from streams or boreholes in the nearby estate. There, people have to wake up as early as 4am to go fetch water,” he added.
High cost of boreholes
An engineer, Mr Olanipekun Olanrewaju, who resided in Bida, Niger State, pointed out that the high cost of sinking boreholes was a major factor that kept many people in rural areas from transcending the use of wells.
He also stated that the lack of pipe-borne water across the country highlighted the failure of the government.
“The issue of pipe-borne water emanated from the kind of political delivery of our democratic government. Not everyone can afford to dig a borehole and unlike what we have here in Niger, virtually every home has a borehole.
“Research has indicated that in the kind of land where you have many boreholes, there is a possibility of earth tremors or earthquakes. Notwithstanding, boreholes are expensive. Here, they cost between N300,000 to N400,000. In Ekiti State, where my mother lives, to dig a borehole is over a million naira, how many people can afford this?
“I built a place for my mother in Omuo-Ekiti and I recently had to convey to her pipe-borne water in kegs pending the time that I would send her some money to buy bottled water. The use of wells is still very noticeable there because only a few rich personalities can afford to dig boreholes beside their houses,” Olanrewaju explained.
Our correspondent gathered that in Lagos State, digging a borehole costs between N250,000 and N650,000.
In Oyo and Ogun states, the average price of manual borehole drilling is from N120,000 to N300,000, while heavy-duty drilling costs between N250,000 and N650,000.
Findings also revealed that the cost of materials to be used, location, and also the number of contractors involved could affect the price of borehole drilling.
Nigeria far behind
According to WaterAid Nigeria, three in 10 people in the country lack water close to their homes and four in five people lack hand washing facilities in their homes.
On its website, the agency says, “Unless there is a monumental shift in ambition and approach, the global promise made in the Sustainable Development Goals for everyone, everywhere to have access to safe and lasting water and sanitation and basic hygiene by 2030 will not be fulfilled for many decades to come.”
The sixth goal of the SDG established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, is to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
At a recent meeting with political parties in Abuja, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarians Coordinator, Matthias Schmale, said, “Unfortunately, Nigeria is far behind in achieving the SDGs. We are hoping that what we have signed will accelerate more achievements. However, much more needs to be done. Progress needs to be accelerated.
“We have agreed in the UN on a number of transforming initiatives that will bring about change and build on these achievements.”
The Water Resources Act of 2004 vested the Federal Government with the right to the use and control of all surface and groundwater and any water course affecting more than one state.
However, Section 1 of the Act stated that “any person may take water without charge for his domestic purpose or for watering his livestock from any watercourse to which the public has free access” as long as such use is not inconsistent with any other law for the time being in force.
In spite of the law, which is premised on public free access to safe water, many citizens live in abject conditions and lack access to potable water.
Wells of death
In recent times, wells, which are a primary source of water in many communities, have become a source of sorrow and tears.
On Friday, February 17, residents of the Alaro Onigbin community in the Owode area of Ede, Osun State, were plunged into grief when two brothers, Lateef Adediran, 22, and Waliu Adediran, 31, and a pastor, Adebayo Oluwasina, 46, met their deaths.
Waliu and Lateef were bricklayers engaged by Adebayo at his construction site.
At the commencement of the day’s work, the bucket used by Lateef to draw water fell into a well on the premises.
He went inside the well to recover the bucket but got trapped.
His elder brother, Waliu, entered the well to rescue him but also could not come out of it.
It was when this happened that the cleric, Oluwasina, also climbed down into the well in a bid to rescue the two siblings who were trapped and he could not also come out of it.
Eventually, the Osun State Fire Service recovered their dead bodies from the well.
A similar incident claimed the life of a yet-to-be-identified 27-year-old man in Alaja community in the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The deceased was trying to fetch water from a well in a mechanic workshop to fill his truck’s radiator when the rope attached to the bucket cut and it fell inside the well.
Desperate to retrieve the bucket, the motor boy entered the well and got drowned.
His body was removed from the well by emergency rescue operatives.
In yet another sad incident, a 60-year-old man, identified as Malam Bala, and his son, Sunusi Bala, 35, died in a well at Sabon Garin Bauchi in Wudil LGA, Kano State, while draining water from a well.
They had successfully drained the well, but Sunusi went back to clear it when he was trapped and suffocated.
His father went after him to rescue him from the well and also got trapped and suffocated.
Each of the cited tragedies involved victims entering wells either to recover an object or to clear it.
There are also incidents of accidental falls into wells.
In July 2022, a 25-year-old man, Banji Adebayo, at Ile Nla, in the Omu Aran area of Kwara State, fell into a domestic well and died.
The victim reportedly went to fetch water at the well around 5am and while drawing water, one of his legs slipped off the ground and he tumbled into the well.
In August 2022, 12-year-old Ahmed Amao, at Sari Iganmu, in the Orile area of Lagos State, lost balance while fetching water and fell into a well.
He died before help came.
Frequent accidents
A survey of newspaper reports of drowning between 2009 and 2019 indicated that many of the victims were between ages 10 and 19, representing over 50 per cent of the total number.
It also showed that intentional entry into water bodies (19.1 per cent) was the most common, while wells, ponds, and water containers collectively accounted for 12.9 per cent.
In 2016, no fewer than 26 people drowned in various wells in Lagos.
A report by the Kano State Fire Service shows that between January and November 2020, the agency received 44 distress calls that had to do with people falling into wells and ponds across the 44 council areas of the state.
Out of these calls, it was recorded that 23 persons were rescued while 15 were rescued unconscious and were later confirmed dead by medical workers.
Data published by the World Health Organisation in 2020 revealed that deaths from drowning in Nigeria reached 6,584 or 0.44 per cent of total deaths.
The age-adjusted death rate is 2.17 per 100,000 population.
A real estate expert, Mr Ademola Adebambo, said this could be largely blamed on the nonchalant attitude of some community leaders and house owners.
“There are community heads that should be held responsible. If a well is drilled in your community, it is your responsibility to ensure that it is safe for usage. If the community heads are not responsive, the people in the area should speak up and demand that the well is safe or else, even animals will be falling into it.
“House owners should also ensure that the well concrete is very strong, high and sealed properly to prevent toddlers or someone with poor sight or that is even intoxicated from falling inside. This will reduce such incidents,” he added.
Experts urge caution
According to an ecology and environmental science research fellow, Mike Okechukwu, water wells usually have low levels of oxygen which make those who fall inside them to be readily suffocated by carbon dioxide and methane.
He said, “The danger here is not only about the drowning but also the suffocation inside the water well due to the presence of carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide.
“These gases are usually generally from the decomposition of biodegradable carbon compounds such as leaves, wood, and other materials in dark and swampy places. Carbon monoxide reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. These gases are not toxic but they are denser than oxygen.
“So what happens is that these gases displace oxygen from the bottom and inner layers of the wells. This is why when someone falls inside a well, he or she will most likely die of asphyxiation because there is no oxygen at the bottom.”
On his part, the Executive Director of Safety Advocate and Empowerment Centre, Jamiu Badmos, during an interview with our correspondent, described wells as confined spaces which could contain obnoxious gases that could cause asphyxiation.
He said, “In health and safety, a well is one of the areas we regard as a confined space and when you are in such an area, you can’t stay there for too long because it is an area that will possibly contain obnoxious gases and is oxygen depleted.
“Whenever a person wants to enter such a place, there must be somebody that is communicating with him; it is incumbent that the area is first tested for the presence of toxic gases before entering the place or he is meant to wear a gas mask. This applies so much to water wells.
“This was what happened in the incident in Osun State where three individuals entered the well after the drawer fell in and didn’t come out of it but the firemen brought out all their bodies. There must be an obnoxious gas in that well which can limit anyone who goes in it from taking in oxygen. It could be carbon monoxide or any other toxic gas which could lead to asphyxiation.”
Badmos added that those who wish to enter wells must have someone around them to ascertain their response and wear a gas mask.
“From what the fire service men said, the place had ammonia gas, whether they tested it or not, I don’t know. Based on odour, there are other gases like chlorine, which is irritating and has a choking smell and hydrogen sulphide with a rotten smell.
“But what can be confirmed and proved scientifically is that when you go deep inside a well, some gases that are pollutants are there and can make people lose consciousness.
“So, if you are to take anything from such a well or even an enclosed tank, you can die from choking. We need to create awareness in all our communities that people should not be allowed to enter wells because the lower we go, the hotter it gets because of the molten magma embedded deep within the earth’s crust; so, to go underground makes one very uncomfortable.
“People should not be allowed to enter into wells if they don’t have to and if there is no one around to communicate with them to ascertain if they are responding,” he added.
