Opinion
FIDAC asks Kano Govt to declare state of emergency on water
ACUTE SHORTAGE OF WATER SUPPLY IN KANO METROPOLITAN, SUB-REGIONAL AND RURAL AREAS
Background
Water is one of the necessities for human lives and its acute shortage makes life difficult for many people and communities. Based on this, United Nations General Assembly (2010) made a resolution that everyone has the right to sufficient, continuous, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use.
Despite Kano State Government unflinching commitment to ensure steady water supply as reflected in 2024 budget approval of 14,240,594,262.01 for the Ministry of Water Resources, adequate provision of pipe bone water still remains a mirage in the state. For instance, in March 24, 2024 Solace Base- a Kano-based online news outlet-reports that Danya and Kyallin-Bula villages in Bichi Local government have been without water for over 40 years. It also reported in 15th May, 2023 that people and cattle drink from the same well in some places at Gaya Emirate. To add to this, a research by Barau (2012) found out that 97 per cent of households in Kano state drink contaminated water. Present public outcry for acute scarcity of water supply all over the state coupled with expensive nature of the water petched and sold is no longer news. It fact, it is a household name, known by all and sundry. In almost all social media platforms the issue remains a major topic of discussion.
Observations on the causes of acute shortage of water supply in Kano State
While commending the effort of Kano State Executive Council approval-as contained in the extract of its 13th weekly Council meeting- for reconstruction of Kura – Kubarachi – Madobi Road and the failed Kubarachi Bridge in Kura and Madobi Local Government Areas in the sum of 11,976,727,228.30 billion naira, proposed water supply package tagged ‘Abba Kabir Yusuf 2024 Reach Out Water Supply Project Phase I’ at the cost of 319,308,407.82 million naira, payment of supply of water treatment chemicals for the month of November, December, and January at the cost of 387,000,000.00 million naira and award of contract for water pipeline extension to Na’ibawa Eastern Bypass Layout and Unguwa-Uku Yan-Awaki communities in the sum of 153,000,000.00 million naira, our findings revealed the following as challenges causing acute water supply in Kano state:
a. Insufficient number of water treatment plants and sadly the existing ones for Kano Greater Water Supply Scheme, Tambura, Bagwai and Shanono Water Schemes are dilapidated.
b. Faulty nature of pipelines supplying water to various places in the state.
c. Power failure and non-availability of diesel to power the machines in the areas where water treatment plants are cited.
d. Budgetary fund releases is untimely and inadequate.
e. Non-remittance of LGAs monthly water supply contributions to Kano Water Board.
f. Poor maintenance of existing boreholes and hand pump wells.
g. Failure of government to sink new boreholes and hand pump wells in strategic locations where the demand is high but with less supply.
h. Poor rehabilitation of water infrastructure all over the state.
I. Inadequate oversight by the responsible government MDAs and legislatures.
j. Government failure to leverage on its existing policy guidelines to reclaim and restore open spaces for increased water percolation below the surface as well as creating and restoring green spaces.
k. Inadequate public sensitization to embrace collaborative consumption of water and promote its recycling.
l. Non-inclusion of knowledge-based water governance in the water supply policy guidelines.
m. Inadequate staffing, training and provision of other incentives for the existing ones.
Recommendations
Government
Based on the above challenges, the state government should to do the following:
a. We urge the state government to declare state of emergency for water supply in Kano State.
b. Kano state governor should, as a matter of public importance, authorize immediate withdrawal from Contingency Fund Account to ameliorate acute water supply in the state.
c. Government should rehabilitate all water infrastructures in the state for equitable rural-urban water security.
d. As a corporate social responsibility, companies and other business ventures operating in Kano are urged to help in reducing water shortages, leakages and wastages through rehabilitation of water infrastructure, repair of faulty hand pump wells and boreholes for equitable water security.
e. Philanthropies and well-meaning individuals are equally urged to extend similar gesture to the good people of Kano State.
f. Government should leverage on its existing policy guidelines and instrumentalities of law, where necessary, to reclaim and restore open spaces for increased water percolation below the surface as well as creating and restoring green spaces.
g. Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) should develop rural water supply clusters for maximum efficiency.
h. Public sensitization to embrace collaborative consumption of water and promote its recycling.
i. In order to provide steady power supply and cut down diesel expenditure for Kano Greater Water Supply Scheme, Tambura, Bagwai and Shanono Water Scheme facilities, the State government should ensure speedy completion and commissioning of Kano Independent Hydro Power Station.
j. There should be collaboration and partnerships between Kano state government and Hadeja Jama’are.
k. Kano state government should strengthen Kano state Water Board and RUWASA through human resources development and adequate provision of facilities.
Kano State House of Assembly (KSHoA).
a. For fact-finding of the genesis of acute shortage of water supply, KSHoA should summon Honourable Commissioner Ministry of Water Resources and MDs of both Kano State Water Board and RUWASA.
b.KSHoA should pass a resolution urging Kano state government to declare water supply state of emergency.
c. Since Kano is the most populous state and centre of commerce in Nigeria, KSHoA should liaise with federal law-makers to seek for intervention of Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
d. Members KSHoA should tailor their constituency projects towards rehabilitation of faulty pump wells and boreholes and where necessary construction new ones.
e. KSHoA should expeditiously enact law to make water resources budgetary provisions among the first line charges.
f. The house is also urged to increase ministry of water resources annual budgetary allocations and embark on oversight to ensure prompt releases and utilization.
g. LGAs should be mandated by KSHoA to urgently rehabilitate boreholes and hand pump wells in their areas and sink new ones in a strategic locations where the demand is high but with less supply.
h. Kano state House of Assembly should ensure adherence to Kano State Water Resources Law which limit arbitrary construction of hand pump wells and boreholes in the state.
I. In order to provide steady power supply and cut down diesel expenditure for Kano Greater Water Supply Scheme, Tambura, Bagwai and Shanono Water Scheme facilities, KSHoA should pass a resolution to ensure speedy completion and commissioning of Kano. ndependent Hydro Power Station.
j. LGAs where sub-regional water scheme are cited should be urged by the KSHoA to make fund provision in their annual budget so as to ensure sufficient, safe, accessible, and affordable water supply in villages and towns for personal and domestic use.
Conclusion
Kano state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) will improve through monthly water bills collections if the pro-active measures articulated in this write-up are taken into Consideration. Concomitantly, Kano State Water Board including RUWASA can have financial autonomy through water bills remittance. Indeed expansion of water supply is possible through rehabilitation of faulty water treatment plants and machines as well as procurement of new ones. Completion and commission of Kano Independent Hydro Power Station will also provide alternative source of power for uninterrupted water supply in the state. Finally, it is our prayer that the recommendations outlined above will be adopted with a view to ensuring sufficient, continuous, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water supply for personal and domestic use in Kano State.
Dr. Abdussalam Muhammad Kani, fcfa
Executive Director, FIDAC kaniabdussalam@yahoo.com +2347033270725
By Abdulaziz Abdulaziz
On Wednesday, October 2, the Daily Trust newspaper came out with the long overdue public apology to the Federal Government over its erroneous reporting of July 4, 2024, on the Samoa Agreement. It was a needful closure to a touchy controversy. It is a commendable gesture on part of the Media Trust management. It is not everyone that has the humility to admit wrongdoing. This has now settled the matter and brought to rubbles the scornful allegations contained in the story under reference.
The watery lead story of July 4, 2024 alleged that the Samoa Agreement, signed by the Federal Government (among other nations that constitute the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, also known as OACPS) with the European Union (EU) contained clauses that promote LGBTQ rights. To make it more salacious the story linked it to an imaginary $150 billion in benefits. Astonishingly, there is nowhere in the story evidence was provided to support both claims. There couldn’t have been as neither LGBTQ (or anything close to it) nor $150 billion was mentioned anywhere in the bulky multilateral document.
In its apology, Daily Trust said it agreed wholly with the verdict passed by the independent panel constituted by the Nigerian Media Complaint Commission (NMCC). The panel’s report released on September 23, 2024, following interrogation of the Federal Government’s complaint, was unequivocal. “The NMCC finds that the 403-page Samoa Agreement does not contain any clause that compels underdeveloped and developing nations to support the agitations by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community for recognition as a condition for getting financial and other supports from advanced nations. Indeed, there is no reference whatsoever in the agreement to the issue of LGBTQ.”
I was appalled by the story first as a professional, before anything else. My social media post on the day it was published harped on its lack of the rudimentary journalistic requirement, viz. evidence. It was a comment I could have made even if I were not in government. Frankly, it is still a wonder how that story passed the crucible of the Trust newsroom, where I had worked and knew the editorial rigour.
Expectedly, the story whipped up tempers. Tongues were set wagging, mostly in one direction and, because the story came from a medium trusted for its journalism, everyone –except for discerning professionals–took it to be the gospel truth. Fortunately, or not, the story came out on Thursday. For its socio-religious sensitivity, it instantly became the main topic of discussion everywhere, especially in the Muslim North. Our dear imams were enraged. I don’t blame them because, again, the story came from Trust!
As if the anger wasn’t enough, some opposition figures followed the fire with more tinder. They went about mobilizing some religious leaders overnight to come out hard on the government. The next day most of the imams went to the minbar writhing with anger armed only with the wrong information. They poured out invectives at a government they supported but which was now “courting calamity greater than the economic hardship” on its people, as one of them put it. President Tinubu, the administration and all of us working with it were anathematised for “selling out the country to promoters of LGBTQ”. There was nothing the government couldn’t do for money, it was said. The congregants left the mosques angrier.
In the ensuing days, professionals and media organisations, some of them known to be very critical of the current administration, came out to fault the reporting as lacking in merit. Those who gave outright verdicts against the Daily Trust story either through fact-checks or analyses include the BBC, PREMIUM TIMES, The Punch, Prof Farooq Kperogi, a Daily Trust columnist – Dr Suleiman A. Suleiman, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), among others. The expectation was for a clear and immediate retraction, as it was clear that the paper got it wrong. Bouyed by the emotional sermons and partisan support from some quarters, the paper held on despite acknowledging “lapses in our reporting”.
In the wake of the controversy, we went through great pains trying to explain why there was no wolf around the Samoa Agreement as the drafters of the Daily Trust story wanted Nigerians to believe. I asked: In what ways had the agreement altered provisions of the Nigerian laws on LGBTQ? What are the practical implications that indicate support? I got accursed, rather than answers. It was painful to see almost everyone, especially up North turn their back against reason choosing to go with the contorted story that failed to quote even a line from the agreement to support its claims.
Exasperating as it was, I don’t blame the clergy and the larger public for the harsh judgement. The blame lies squarely on the doorstep of Trust. And this is the purpose of this post-mortem piece. Journalistic powers are akin to those of a soldier with a gun. Releasing the trigger in the wrong direction could kill or maim the innocent, and no amount of apology or even reprimand of the culprit could cure the loss suffered by the innocent. This is why the old principle that says “if you’re in doubt, leave it out” is evergreen for journalism practice. As professionals, we know pretty well that rebuttal or retraction can never attain the mileage of the original. There are still multitudes out there that will not change opinions formed from the first story.
It is for this reason that responsible journalism is non-negotiable because as the great old Philip L. Graham, publisher of The Washington Post once said, “Journalism is the first rough draft of history.” That rough draft often has a way of sticking even if subsequent events invalidate its premise.
Yes, accountability journalism is a sine qua non for healthy democracy. However, as the legal maxim goes, he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Accountability journalism is not a byword for stone-throwing because when all you do is throw stones you end up causing more harm than good. We must, at all times, ensure the sanctity of truth, fairness, and public good. As the celebrated American war reporter, Edward R. Murrow said, “[T]o be credible we must be truthful.”
As close with the bon mot from the grand Sardauna, Sir Ahmadu Bello, while admonishing the founding team of the New Nigerian Newspapers; “Tell the truth about us, tell us the truth about others”. We ask for no more.
Abdulaziz is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Print Media.
Opinion
No Smoke Without Fire: Urgent Action Needed to Address FIRS’ Reckless Disruption of Healthcare in Kano
An open letter to the presidency
“There’s no smoke without fire” …Prompt action must be taken hook, line and sinker immediately.
Assalamu Alaikum, Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon you.
To President Tinubu, Hon. Minister of Health, Stakeholders and all Health Practitioners of Nigeria.
I am bitterly compelled to write to you today regarding a disturbing incident that transpired at Best Choice Specialist Hospital in Kano city.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) actions at this private hospital have demonstrated a blatant disregard for human life.
Patients and parents have reported to Alfijir Newspaper that operatives of FIRS with officials, armed with guns, stormed the hospital, threatening and forcing them to vacate the premises.
The general plebeians already vulnerable due to illness, were left to wander the streets of Kano in search of alternative healthcare, only to find that many medical facilities were unavailable due to an ongoing doctors’ strike.
It is unacceptable that the FIRS dispute with the hospital should infringe upon citizens’ right to healthcare.
This conflict affects not only the hospital but the people who seek medical attention.
Best Choice Specialist Hospital is renowned for its philanthropic efforts and commitment to providing quality healthcare to the most vulnerable members of our society.
The hospital’s management has consistently demonstrated compassion and empathy, offering free medical services to those who cannot afford them.
Their selflessness has saved countless lives and alleviated suffering.
The hospital’s community outreach programs have provided vital healthcare services to rural areas, addressing pressing health concerns such as maternal and child mortality.
Their collaboration with local organizations has facilitated health education, disease prevention, and awareness campaigns.
Moreover, Best Choice Specialist Hospital has been at the forefront of disaster response, providing emergency medical care during times of crisis.
Their staff’s dedication and expertise have been instrumental in saving lives and mitigating the impact of devastating events.
We urge the leaders of our great nation and the Human Rights Commission to take immediate action against this abuse of power.
Furthermore, We also implore the FIRS to reconsider their approach, recognizing that their rights do not supersede those of others.
“If your own children were in need of medical care, would you not prioritize their well-being above all else?”
Solemnly we request all the stakeholders to intervene to prevent future incidents and ensure the hospital can continue its lifesaving work.
We await your prompt response and resolution on to this critical matter.
Sincerely,
Editor-in-Chief, Alfijir Online Newspaper.
Yusha’u Hamza Kafinchiri Anipr
Air Peace, once renowned for its efficient service, has seemingly lost its footing in the Nigeria aviation industry. My recent ordeal on Flight P47425 from Kano to Abuja was a true picture that shows this decline.
Initially scheduled to depart at 9:55 pm on Monday, September 23, 2024, my flight was cancelled twice. The first notification read:
“Dear passenger, your Flight P47425 from Kano to Abuja…has been moved and will now depart at 14:40 on 23/09/2024 due to operational reasons.”
Upon arriving at the airport at 2:00 pm, I received another message.
Your flight is now rescheduled for 10:35pm due to same operational reasons.
Later at 10:00 pm, I collected my boarding pass and waited in the departure lounge, only to be informed of another delay.
At midnight, Air Peace Abuja-bound passengers protested the boarding of Lagos-bound passengers, demanding two aircraft be made available. After a tense standoff, aviation security personnel intervened, and both flights eventually departed around 1:16am.
My flight, which lasted a mere 34 minutes, landed peacefully at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 2:16 am. However, the journey was far from peaceful.
Air Peace’s struggles with operational efficiency have compromised passenger experience. Air travelers expect better communication, timely departures, and hassle-free flights. Air Peace must address these issues to regain passenger trust.
The airline must Improve communication regarding flight changes and delays and respect rescheadule timings.
They should enhance operational efficiency to minimize delays.
The management of air peace must provide adequate aircraft, staffing and resources to manage passenger flow or better still fold up and get out of business to save the country’s reputation in the eyes of other countries nationals traveling out domestic routes inland.
While my flight landed safely, the experience was marred by delays, chaos, and poor communication. Air Peace must prioritize passenger satisfaction to reclaim its reputation as a reliable carrier.
Yusha’u Hamza Kafinchiri Anipr,
Writes from Kadinchiri, Garko LGA,
Kano State.
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