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ONE of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is access to potable water for all.
This is, therefore, what Australia-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), FairAction International, through its Nigerian office, FairAction Nigeria, is working to achieve in Nigeria.
The NGO, which is working towards tackling water poverty in Nigerian communities, has inaugurated some water projects in recent time.
With the support of the Australian High Commission in Nigeria and other developmental partners in Australia, FairAction International recently completed another water project for the people of Alabata community in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
This came barely two months after the organisation inaugurated a project at Ijaiye community, also in Akinyele Local Government Area.
The water project, which is solar-powered and comes with a water treatment plant and also equipped with internet of things (IoT), and a kiosk is expected to serve the people of Alabata, who, until now, had no access to safe drinking water sources.
Speaking during the inauguration of the project, Director of FairAction Nigeria, Mr Yinka Adeoti, said after the project at Ijaiye, the organisation also identified Alabata as a community that is having challenge with potable water.
Mr Adeoti said the organisation didn’t just go to a community and start constructing borehole, rather, conduct comprehensive research and liaise with the community on what they actually need.
“If a community doesn’t need a water project, then providing them with one will make the exercise futile, but we actually look out for areas suffering from water poverty before deciding on siting the water project there.”
Speaking on the reason FairAction decided to start assisting ACcommunities with water projects, Adeoti said the founder of FairAction, Mr Samuel Adeoti, who is now based in Australia, experienced water poverty while growing up and when he got to Australia, he took it upon himself to come up with the NGO to help in providing water to those also experiencing water poverty in the country.
The director revealed that just like other projects, residents of the community would fetch the water free of charge for the first month, while they will now start paying N2.00 per litre subsequently.
“The essence of this money is just for the community to see the project as theirs and when there is need for replacement of any part, the money can quickly be used to do such urgent repairs.
“However, FairAction will still be responsible for the maintenance of the project, but once the people start paying N2.00 per litre of water, they will see the project as theirs and ensure it is well taken care of,” Adeoti said.
Another official of FairAction, Mr Afolabi Yusuff, said the water project comes with a treatment plant, which will ensure that the water coming out is potable.
Yusuff said, “Water is so important to human health, and it is easy for diseases to enter the human system when the water consumed is of poor quality.
“However, with this water project, you can be sure that you are having access to potable water, which will also help build the immune system.
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“It is, therefore, important for residents of the community to take care of this project so that they can benefit from future projects of FairAction.”
While appreciating the gesture, a community leader, Alhaji Ganiyu Balogun, thanked FairAction for the support, saying it would go a long way in making the community disease-free.
He said: “At a period when we are experiencing cholera in parts of the country, which we know can also be traced to poor water, we want to appreciate FairAction for coming to support us with this water project.
“With this, we know we will be consuming water that is free of germs that can affect our health.
“I, therefore, want to assure the officials of FairAction that we will maintain this project so that our community can be considered for future projects by FairAction.”
A resident of the community, Mrs Idayat Olatunbosun, while speaking on how the water project would benefit the community, said:“We have sources of water in the community, but the truth is that we are not sure of the quality.
“Of recent, we have been hearing of cholera cases in parts of the country and we know that water plays a part in the transmission of the disease.
“We are not too sure of the quality of our water sources, so with the coming of the FairAction project, we are sure that we are consuming potable water that won’t affect our health negatively.
“We really appreciate FairAction as it has made our work easier; before the coming of the project, we tried to boil our water before drinking, but that means we are spending more on energy as we buy kerosene or gas to boil the water. With the water treatment plant, we just need to go and fetch the water and drink once our Jerry cans are clean.”
Another resident of the community, Bose Aderibigbe, also thanked FairAction for the project.
“The project has cost the organisation a lot of money and they are not expecting anything in return other than for us to maintain it so that it can serve us for a long time.
“Water is so important in the life of a person and with this project, we are sure that the water we are drinking is of global standard.”
During the inauguration, residents of the community gathered en masse around the project site to show how valuable it is to them, with many of them promising that in the next 10 years, the project will still be functioning.
