Address water scarcity affecting Agboyi-Ketu Community, residents urge Sanwo-Olu

Residents of Agboyi-Ketu, a Lagos suburb, on Thursday appealed to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to address scarcity of water affecting the community.

The residents, under the aegis of Joint Action for Good Governance, a civil society organisation (CSO), made the plea on Thursday in Lagos, as the governor commenced activities marking his first year in office.

Its National Vice President, Mr Abdulwaheed Odunuga, in a statement, described the situation in the community as an irony.

“We live in a city that is surrounded by water, yet we find it extremely difficult to get potable water for drinking and other domestic uses.

“There has been no water supply to the residents of Agboyi-Ketu and its environs for almost two weeks now. We want to tell Gov. Sanwo-Olu that we need water.

“Residents of these communities and its environs now depend on water vendors known as ‘Mairuwa’ for their daily supply of water, while others patronise water tanker vendors.

“So bad, we don’t even know the source of water we buy.

“We cannot ask anybody and the only affordable and accessible well/borehole water is not drinkable,” Odunuga said.

According to him, the group’s investigations revealed that water scarcity is hitting some parts of the state due to non-supply by the Lagos State Water Corporation.

He said that lack of water was now a frequent phenomenon as the corporation had been struggling to maintain supply for about two years.

“Currently, none of the pumps is effective from our investigations. Water is not just an essential need for all human and animals, but also a necessity as a means of survival against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The state government is doing everything possible to flatten the curve of the pandemic.

“But the current non-supply of water to the residents is a leaky bucket strategy of fighting the anti-human virus.

“All efforts to get the resolution plans for the non-supply of the essential resource has only earned the common chorus ‘we are working on it’ from the staff of the corporation.

“The worst we had under the eight years of former Gov. Babatunde Fashola’s administration was 2/3 days of non-supply of water,” he said.

Odunuga advised the governor to also prioritise water supply as he celebrates his first year anniversary in office, saying this become imperative during this trying time of the global pandemic.

“I appeal to all relevant Lagos State Authorities to immediately restore water supply to all affected areas.

“This is to prevent health hazards such as typhoid, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, other related water-borne diseases and prevent future preventable deaths,” Odunuga said.