In Yahaya Bello’s Kogi, Potable Water isn’t a Luxury
By Hafsat Ibrahim
Water, an age-long cliche claims, is life. Without potable water for domestic and industrial purpose, survival becomes a herculean task for man.
According to a study, water supply is necessary for the sustenance of life and the ecological system, as it is also fast-tracks economic and social development.
Another research postulates that more than 60 million people in Nigeria do not have access to clean water.
In Kogi State, for instance, water scarcity was an issue that had become perennial, prior to the advent of the Yahaya Bello-led government.
But six years down the line, Governor Bello has not left anyone in doubt of his seriousness to make Kogi, the Confluence State, become a ‘water fountain’, albeit proverbially.
The Kogi Governor has evolved viable administrative policies that are already facilitating the sustainable management of water in most rural and urban centres.
Many communities in the Confluence State which hitherto struggled to get water for their basic needs, now enjoy a steady supply of the essential natural resource.
As a leader whose concern is the all-round development of Kogi, Governor Bello’s administration has constructed over 100 motorised boreholes across all the Senatorial Districts in the State.
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Specifically, Governor Bello immediately after assuming office in 2016 speedily approved the contract for the reticulation of the Osara Water Scheme, which has since been completed, and commissioned for public use.
It is worthy to note that the 20 billion Osara Water Scheme, at the time of its execution, generated more than 1,700 direct and indirect jobs.
According to the Managers of the project, Bilvisco Investments Limited, the water scheme is already serving over 300,000 households in Kogi State.
Flagging off the project, Governor Yahaya Bello, it would be recalled, said that it would give the people of Okehi, Adavi, and Okene Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State access to potable water.
He noted that the contract would cover the construction, reticulation, and management of the Osara Water Scheme across Kogi Central Senatorial District.
Prominent traditional leaders at the water project’s inauguration ceremony, then, thanked Governor Bello for his commitment towards enhancing the quality of life of all Kogites through the platform of his governance.
This writer gathered that several other water projects, awarded by Governor Bello, are on the verge of completion.
Upon their completion, certainly before the tenure of Governor Bello elapses in January 2024, one can say, without equivocation, that Kogi is perhaps the only State, in the entire federation, where access to potable water is not a luxury.
And it will never be, especially to the persons in the lower rung of the society.
