For over 30 years, the people of Tse Adum in Guma LGA, Benue state, have lived without clean water. The only water source is from a dirty pond, which starts to dry up around February every year.
Whenever the water dries up, the community uses a roster system to determine which household will wait a few days for the water to come up. Then, they take turns to scoop the water for use at home, including drinking.
During this period, whoever turns to fetch will go in the morning and return at 2 pm because the journey from the community to the pond is about 4km, which ensures that the person fetching water for the day will miss school and other essential activities.
The pond’s water is unclean and harmful, yet the people go above and beyond for it because there is no alternative.
In 2023, the community became hopeful as their need was captured in the FG budget for the year. N10 million was allocated to the Provision of 2nos of Powered Boreholes At Tse Adum Uvir, Guma LGA, Benue State under the Lower Niger River Basin Development Agency.
However, as of April 2024, the project has not commenced, and their hopes have been dashed. We held a sensitization meeting in the community, where the community head, lamented the weight of the hardship on his people.
“We only live here by God’s grace because, during the dry season, we go most days without enough drinking water. We usually keep wastewater down to settle so we can use it again; a child can be spanked for pouring water away, even by mistake. Our children suffer from cholera because of the recycled dirty water. Bathing for us in this village is occasional”.
A community member, Michael, appealed to Tracka to help bring the government’s attention to their plight.
“Seeing you here today makes me feel something good will happen soon in terms of water supply to our community. I sincerely appeal on behalf of the people of Ste Adum and neighbours to please do everything possible to get us water to drink to our satisfaction once in our lives”.
The women who joined the sensitization meeting from their farmlands expressed their helplessness to the lack of water.
“We have accepted our fate by going to search for water wherever it could be found, even if we have to spend the whole day looking for it or waiting for the pond to produce enough water to scoop for domestic use, and once we get back, we feel tired to do other things”.
We call on Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, the governor of Benue state, Senator Titus Zam representing Benue North-West Senatorial District, Hon. Dickson Tarkighir representing Makurdi/Guma Federal constituency, and Dr Adeniyi Aremu, the Managing Director of Lower Benue RBDA to facilitate the provision of a borehole at Tse Adum and Mbaaga communities in Guma LGA, to alleviate their suffering and improve their quality of life.
Access to water is a basic amenity to which every Nigerian citizen has a right.
Story by Ayomide Ladipo and Frederick Edache
