Residents of Makurdi, the Benue State capital have once again been greeted with acute water shortage following the emergence of the dry season. The peak of the dry season in the state lasts between February and April. During this period, residents are seen with gallons of various sizes buying water from few privileged members of the society. The reason being that, most of the local wells which service as major source of water supply in the city have dried up.

During this period of harrowing difficulties, when many people cannot afford to take their bath and wash their clothes as they should, the government in utter helplessness is seen to be clearly overwhelmed since it cannot meet the basic responsibility of making clean and portable water available to its people. In a bid to salvage the situation or, at least show that it is on top of the situation, it resorts to selling water in rickety tankers through Benue State Water Board to members of the society often in high cost.

Truly speaking, overcoming this challenge shouldn't be the responsibility of government alone. The state has played a pivotal role in the success of many individuals and organizations therefore, giving back to the state shouldn't be considered an herculean task.

Benue State, like others states in the country is delineated into wards, councils, zones etc. In fact, there's no part of the state that is not under the direct supervision or control of some group of persons. To this end, all hands must be on deck in order to surmount this daunting and unpleasant experience. Children cannot afford to be continuously knocked down by reckless motorists because of the search for water.

If God has placed you in a privileged position; it is not for you to surround yourself with walls of Jericho and all the good things therein: It is time to help your community build a borehole that will ameliorate the sufferings of the people in times like this. In fact, putting it bluntly, if you have in one way or another been blessed financially through the water, air or soil of Benue then, you owe the good people of the state a moral duty of building a motorized borehole(s) in towns and; at least, a hand or manual borehole(s) n rural or remote villages.

If spirited individuals and organizations can make a commitment to projects of this nature and also ensure that they (the projects) are not hijacked or mismanaged by some local overlords, the problem of water shortage in times like this would have been reasonably addressed.

By:
Ajukura, Fidelis O.
ajukurafidelisobi@gmail.com
19/04/2021

And we have a born again governor,
There is God