SPECIAL REPORT: Kwara communities suffer diseases, death as borehole projects stop working

For Yahya Abdullahi, 38, the memory of losing his son to a water-borne disease in 2021 still troubles him. Mr Abdullahi and his family live in Ifedapo Bolorunduro, a community on the outskirts of Tanke in Ilorin South Local Government of Kwara State, where they rely on a dug well and sometimes, stream water for consumption.

Residents of the community, especially children, suffer water-borne diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, and dysentery. Sometimes, they end up at Temitope Hospital, a private clinic in the community, where they had been warned to refrain from consuming water from these sources but having no choice for clean water in their community, they couldn’t stop drinking from the sources.

“We always fall sick, even our children, and when we go to the hospital they’ll tell us it is because of the water we drink. One of the children was recently diagnosed with typhoid. My own child died two years ago. We took her to the hospital, but she later died”, Mr Abdullahi said.

The grim situation in the community confirms a 2022 data by Workd Bank, stating that 70 million Nigerians lack access to basic drinking water services. Additionally, UNICEF stated that over 70,000 children under five die annually from contaminated water diseases like diarrhea.

However, this community could have been saved from worries and tragedies as it once benefited from a borehole project that provided potable water for some time.

The non-functional borehole Project

In 2020, when the residents of Ifedapo Bolorunduro heard the news that a solar borehole had been provided for them, joy filled their hearts, giving them hope of accessing potable water. Still, barely six months after execution in November 2020, the project stopped functioning.

The project was initiated by the former lawmaker Abdulganiyu Olododo, who represented Ilorin East/South Federal Constituency, for the provision of solar-powered boreholes to three communities in the constituency.

Budgeted for N50 million, the project was contracted to Subanga Investment Limited by the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, and planned to be executed across three locations.

Ifedapo Bolorunduro, Isalekoko Oja-Gboro, and Budo-Obanla were the three communities that benefited from the project. However, the boreholes in Ifedapo Bolorunduro and Isalekoko Oja-Agboro stopped working months after the contractor handed them over.

In a visit to the communities in October 2023, community leaders alleged that the contractor did a poor job. They said the project was executed in November 2020 and became non-functional in May 2021, barely six months after.

Residents of the two communities have been forced to rely on contaminated water sources.

In Ifedapo Bolorunduro, it was observed that the residents had abandoned the borehole due to its non-functionality, and two of the solar panels had also been washed away by heavy downpours.

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Alfulani Hassan, a resident, said the borehole stopped working about three years ago, adding that the pumping machine got faulty. He stated that community members couldn’t afford to replace it, hence the abandonment.

“It was like the pumping machine the contractor used was not good; it spoiled almost six months after it was done. We took it to a repairman, but we were told it can’t be repaired unless it is replaced with a new one before the borehole can work again.” Mr Hassan said.

“We went to price the new one but they said it was N800,000, and where do we want to see that money? That’s why it is left like that,” he added.

He said the lawmaker promised to send someone to assess the situation but no one showed up.

“We have tried all our efforts to help us with a new pumping machine but they keep promising us they will come and up till today, we didn’t see them.”

Another resident, Rainat Isiaq, said they now rely on the well water for drinking and cooking.

“It was from that well we were drinking before, and now it is only our source of water despite it not being that clean. But during the dry season, it used to dry up, so we search for water in other communities. Sometimes, it is our husbands that’ll use their motorcycles to go and fetch,” Mrs Isiaq said.

Same story

At Isalekoko Oja-Agboro, the non-functionality of the borehole has frustrated the community leader, Kamaldeen Kamaja, leading him to consider relocating the project elsewhere.

“The borehole has been there for about three years now without being useful. I’m even praying they should come and take it away to another place so that I can use the land I already gave up for the project,” Mr Kamaja said.

Mr Kamaja said the problem began with difficulty in filling up the 25,000 litres overhead steel tank, which sometimes takes three days of non-stop pumping.

After five months of tedious pumping, in April 2021, the pump switch blew up, and he had to spend his personal money, approximately N50,000, to repair it. Yet, the borehole still didn’t work.

“While we were soliciting for assistance from the facilitator, some burglars came and stole the pumping machine during one night around June,” he said explaining how the pumping machine was stolen in 2021.

Mr Kamaja said residents of the community now depend on the dug wells or join the long queue at some households that have boreholes.

On a visit to the project at Budo-Obanla, it was observed that the borehole was still working and serving the community.

Habeebat Abdulrazaq, a resident of the community said the borehole has been serving the community and has relieved their suffering from getting water.

Contractor exonerated self

When contacted the contractor who refused to mention his name, blamed the communities for their carelessness, which he said hindered the sustainability of the project.

He said the electrical fault that caused the switches to blow up was none of his fault but that of the community.

By Abubakar Abdulrasheed

This report was produced under the UDEME project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and DevelopmentI(CJID).

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