By Abel Leo
Its celebration mood in Enugu since the launch of the ultra-modern 9th Mile 24/7 Water Scheme by Governor Peter Mbah, among other projects to end perennial water scarcity in Enugu city.
A non-governmental organisation, NGO, The Centre for Humanity, has commended Governor Mbah for restoring water to Enugu metropolis in 180 days as promised during the campaigns.
This was even as students of the Godfrey Okoye University Secondary School, Thinker’s Corner, Enugu, expressed their joy over the restoration of public water supply to their institution, describing Mbah as the type of leader they look up to emulate in the future.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Director of Communications and Public Enlightenment, The Centre for Humanity, Peter Ugwu, the Centre observed that the abundance of water achieved by the Mbah administration in 180 days, could have taken any other serious government at least four years to record.
It regretted that Enugu people had suffered acute water shortages that impugned their humanity.
“According to the World Bank, about 70 million Nigerians do not have access to safe drinking water, while approximately 114 million do not have access to basic sanitation facilities. This has affected people’s health, well-being, and economic productivity.
“This is why The Centre for Humanity is pleased to identify with the grand success registered by Governor Peter Mbah in the provision of potable water in Enugu city in 180 days, especially the commissioning of the 9th Mile 24/7 Water Scheme, backed by a 4.4MW backup gas-powered electricity generation plant to guarantee nonstop water supply to Enugu metropolis going forward.
“Raising water production capacity from an occasional 2 million litres to 120 million litres daily is a great mileage, and we trust that the governor will, as promised, now concentrate on fixing the bursting pipes and willful vandalisation and sabotage, which result in loss of huge quantities of water”, the Centre stated.
It also urged Enugu residents to own the facilities and protect them against vandals and those out to sabotage efforts to have the people enjoy public water after over two decades.
“Anyone caught should be made to face the law as an enemy of progress”, the group stated.
Meanwhile, speaking during one of the governor’s stopovers to inspect some reconnected institutions and commissioned some of the 96 water galleries constructed around the city, the Senior Prefect of the Godfrey Okoye University Secondary School, Master Radiance Kamah, expressed the joy and appreciation of the students to the governor.
Kamah said: “Not long ago, you came into this state, you already started improving Enugu and I am very sure that by next year, we will be ranking the first best state in Nigeria. I remember, the 11th convocation held at Nike recently, on our way, we saw constructions going at different points and also beautiful water galleries like this one being constructed. With no much time, you have completed it and now, you are commissioning it today.
“I know your governance style will demonstrate to the students and the youths of Nigeria how a good leader should be and how we should begin to form themselves so that when it will be our turn, we would have that idea of how to govern a country and a state. We would always love you. Ndi Enugu are lucky to have a Governor like this and I know other states will be jealous.”
Describing the administration’s massive investment in water resources through Internally Generated Revenue, and 120 million litres daily volume of water recorded in 180 days, as a miracle, former minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said Mbah had redefined governance and rebuilt public confidence in government.
“In the past, we used to hear that government earmarked a lot of things, but nobody gets to see them. But we are now “eye-marking” a solemn promise that was made and kept”, Nebo stated.
On his part, the President-General of Nsude Autonomous Community, Udi LGA, Engr. Nicholas Eneje, appreciated Governor Mbah for revamping the 9th Mile water project 41 years after it was initiated.
He confessed that although many had doubted his promise to break a 20-year old jinx of pipe-borne water in 180 days, they had now seen and believed.
Recall that the governor had at the weekend commissioned a 70 million litre per day water project in Enugu, saying his administration had raised potable water production capacity from the occasional 2 million litres per day to 120 million litres per day.
Commissioning the project known as the 9th Mile 24/7 Water Scheme in fulfillment of his campaign promise to restore water to Enugu city in 180 days from the date of his inauguration, Dr. Mbah explained that the 4.4mw gas-powered plant built by his administration to supply power at the scheme would ensure uninterrupted water supply to Enugu residents.
Regretting the dire water challenges faced by Enugu residents before now, he said availability of potable water was consequential to his administration’s vision to raise the state’s economy from $.4.4 billion to $30 billion GDP in four to eight years.
“It was clear to us, that the status of water supply at the time was deplorable. At that time, there had been no reliable water supply in most parts of Enugu State for almost 20 years.
“One need not be a rocket scientist to discern that few investors will be attracted to the state under such dire circumstances, nor can existing businesses expand to generate additional jobs and economic growth. If anything, these conditions are suffocating businesses and households and leading to unnecessary suffering across the State.
“Faced with this fundamental issue, and considering the suffering of Ndi Enugu, it was only natural that we identified provision of water as one of our first targets in the drive to execute our mandate and social contract with citizens of Enugu.
“We also chose to give ourselves a target of resolving this challenge in 180 days not for the purpose of chest-thumping but rather because first, the issue is urgent. We did not want Ndi Enugu to suffer unduly for even one minute longer than avoidable, and, second, we saw this as an opportunity to galvanize Ndi Enugu for the tough tasks ahead and whip our administration into gear as quickly as possible,” he said.
Mbah recalled that the promise to provide potable water within the timeline of 180 days “triggered disbelief in most quarters and that is perhaps understandable, realising the countless successive, but fruitless attempts to address the problem.
“Happily, for us all, here we are, 180 days from that promise, commissioning this new ultra-modern water scheme with a capacity to deliver to businesses and families in Enugu 70 million litres of potable water daily and this is but the first phase. In a few weeks, we will also be commissioning new pumps in Oji water scheme to enable us to deliver another 50 million litres of water everyday. This will give us a total daily delivery of 120 million litres in Enugu, about twice the daily demand of Enugu urban.
“We are currently supplying water at appreciable pressures to Enugu municipality and I can state here and now that pipe-borne water is here to stay,” Mbah said.
While acknowledging some challenges in the downstream part of the water supply, he stressed: “Of course, there are instances of burst pipes around the metropolis, but this was not unexpected, given the age of a number of our lines. However, these constitute but teething problems which we will surely surmount in a matter of weeks and constant water 365 days of the year will once again be a reality in Enugu.”
The governor equally assured that effort would be intensified to extend pipe-borne water to a number of major residential areas, which developed since the last major pipe-laying projects in Enugu.
“In addition, the towns outside Enugu also have varied degrees of water problems. Now that we can see the end of the water issues around Enugu urban, we must now refocus to address towns like Nsukka, Oji, Udi, etc.,” he said, urging the cooperation of the residents in the payment for services and protection of the facilities.
“Reliable water supply is not cheap! But I promise that this water will be far less expensive than what you are spending today on water tanker supply. We must be willing to pay for connection to the meters, which will be installed in our homes and businesses, and pay a fair monthly rate for the water we consume.
“Second, the infrastructure that we have put in place, from this scheme here to the pipes going into our various residential areas, belong to Ndi Enugu and must be optimised. We cannot afford for them to be vandalized or stolen! Therefore, we must consider it our duty to look after this infrastructure”, he said.
