How potable water is changing lives at a rural Nigeria community
How potable water is changing lives at a rural Nigeria community
![File photo of children fetching water from the borehole constructed by UNICEF and EU in Ikot Nkpenne community, Nsit Atai Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, [Photo Credit: Nike Adebowale]](https://i2.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2017/10/IMG_9505-e1509484295678.jpg?fit=800%2C449&ssl=1)
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You could feel the excitement in the air, see the smiles on their faces and hear their laughter as the children of Ikot Nkpenne filled their buckets with clean water from the tap.
With both hands covering her shy face, Gift Bassey, a 16-year-old secondary schoolgirl, said, “I no longer have to wake up at 5 a.m. to fetch water from the stream because God has blessed us with a borehole.”
Well, God did; through the European Union, EU, and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
Ikot Nkpenne in Nsit Atai Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State has a population of about 1,500 people in about 140 households that make up the community.
Before the EU and UNICEF came to their rescue, the people had no access to safe drinking water. Their only source of water supply was a stream some distance to the community.
It takes about 30 minutes to get to the small river and this affected the school children mostly as they were constantly late to school because they ran the errand of fetching water for their families.
For the women, household chores like cooking was a huge problem due to water scarcity. Members of the community were also exposed to the risks of snake bites and attack by wild animals on their trips to the stream.
Nsit Atai is one of many local governments in Akwa Ibom State that lack pipe-borne or any other source of potable water supply. This is despite the state being one of the richest in Nigeria, earning more from the Federation Account monthly than almost all other 36 states in Nigeria.
Like Nsit Atai, many parts of Nigeria do not have access to potable water, with rural dwellers suffering the most. Many walk several kilometres in search of water while others depend on polluted water from ponds, stream, rainwater and floods for domestic use.
According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2017, only about 57.48 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 190 million people have access to improved water supply.
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You could feel the excitement in the air, see the smiles on their faces and hear their laughter as the children of Ikot Nkpenne filled their buckets with clean water from the tap.
With both hands covering her shy face, Gift Bassey, a 16-year-old secondary schoolgirl, said, “I no longer have to wake up at 5 a.m. to fetch water from the stream because God has blessed us with a borehole.”
Well, God did; through the European Union, EU, and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
Ikot Nkpenne in Nsit Atai Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State has a population of about 1,500 people in about 140 households that make up the community.
Before the EU and UNICEF came to their rescue, the people had no access to safe drinking water. Their only source of water supply was a stream some distance to the community.
It takes about 30 minutes to get to the small river and this affected the school children mostly as they were constantly late to school because they ran the errand of fetching water for their families.
For the women, household chores like cooking was a huge problem due to water scarcity. Members of the community were also exposed to the risks of snake bites and attack by wild animals on their trips to the stream.
Nsit Atai is one of many local governments in Akwa Ibom State that lack pipe-borne or any other source of potable water supply. This is despite the state being one of the richest in Nigeria, earning more from the Federation Account monthly than almost all other 36 states in Nigeria.
Like Nsit Atai, many parts of Nigeria do not have access to potable water, with rural dwellers suffering the most. Many walk several kilometres in search of water while others depend on polluted water from ponds, stream, rainwater and floods for domestic use.
According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2017, only about 57.48 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 190 million people have access to improved water supply.
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