Ogun Communities drink from dirty streams, struggle with COVID-19 hygiene measures

Oke Idunn, 34, resident of Asaa, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, would wake as early as 3 am daily searching for water for her family use.

The mother of two often scrambles all the trenches dug by the men in the community to see if any would have sprung out water during the night. But most times, Idunn returns home without water, and when she is lucky to scoop a small amount, it is usually unclean.

Getting water at those odd hours is usually not without a struggle with other women who also left behind the safety of their homes in the wee hours of the day, searching for this crucial human need.

Water fetched from the ditches is little and dirty, but Idunn, as others, contents herself with her lot. Even when she attempts to purify the brown coloured water with potassium alum, the colour always remains the same, which runs contrary to the World Health Organisation’s water standard, which states that water should be colourless.

“We will go back to the ditches in the afternoon, by 1 pm, we nose across all ditches like snakes to see if there is enough water to scoop,” Idunn says.

She says it usually takes hours for women in the community to fill their buckets with such coloured water. “We will sit there and wait. We will dig it deeper atimes. If we notice the water is coming out from one source, we scoop it into our buckets and take it home, then we can take our bath, wash our dirty clothes and make pap.”

This struggle to get water for cooking and house chores makes bathing optional in most households in Asaa. During a visit by this reporter, Idunn and her two children had not had their baths for the past five days, and they were not sure that would happen any time soon.

She explains that, due to the difficulty of getting water to drink in the community, the members can stay days without taking their baths. According to her, the daily competition for water among women in the community has degenerated into an unhealthy rivalry.

At a time when personal hygiene ought to be intensified, due to the Covid-19 contagion, Idunn said she and her family are more concerned about what to eat and drink than the washing of hands. This is despite getting messages by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on the radio advising the public about hygiene, including regular washing of hands with soap and water as one of the essential measures against the spread of Covid-19.

“We used to hear it on the radio that we should wash our hands. Just imagine that, we have no water to drink, no water to take our bath, Mr reporter, which one would you also prioritize? God is protecting us here,” Idunn asked looking straight into the eyes of this reporter.

A water full of impurities

What Idunn did not know is that the water she and her family members are consuming is full of impurities. According to Dataphyte’s investigation of the water sample being consumed in Asaa, there is 5.5% of acid, using Formazin Turbidity Unit (FTU), 10.0% of Turbidity, 92.5% of Total Solids (ppm), 90.0 % of Dissolved Solids (ppm), among other physical characteristics in the water the women scramble to get daily.

Total solids is a measure of the suspended and dissolved solids in water. Dissolved solids are those that pass through a water filter. They include some organic materials, as well as salts, inorganic nutrients, and toxins.

Though the water is soft (ppm CaCO3 at 32.0% as against the WHO’s minimum of 30%), the Microbiology characteristics test of the Asaa water sample also revealed that there is Total Bacteria counts (cfu/ml) of 10.0 X 101 while Total Faecal Coliform (cfu/ml) stands at 1.1 X 102 .

The result stated that the health implication of the water may include corrosive tendencies, faecal contamination, urinary tract infections, bacteraemia, meningitis, diarrhoea, acute renal failure, and haemolytic anaemia.

According to Damilare Ajagbe, a microbiologist and Ph.D. student at Oklahoma State University, USA, the presence of “bacteria coliform in the drinking water is an indication that the water could contain disease-causing organisms.

The further detection of faecal coliform in this drinking water shows that it is contaminated by faeces and the risk of having disease-causing organisms (pathogen) in the water is high.

He added that the present situation in the community is a critical public health issue, and it poses a critical health risk to people drinking this water.

We were all scared during the early days of Covid-19 – the Baale of Asaa community

https://www.dataphyte.com/development/report-ogun-communities-drink-from-dirty-streams-struggle-with-covid-19-hygiene-measures/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo6c1VZyQOc

Okay...


Xixo of 'The Gods Must Be Crazy' even had to squeeze liquids from roots in order to quench his thirst and that of his family. Liquids, because those drops of whitish substance weren't water. Now that was a family that appreciated what they had. They knew that we humans don't need much to survive and be happy.

Idunn's forefathers survived on that type of water laced with dirt and fecal matter. Perhaps, this age wants to be drinking off a stream of sparkling water.

What a sneer at nature's benevolence.

Kai

It's the devil I am laffing at oo

Chai. What happened in the last picture?
Was it the place earthquake happened?
Why is the ground open with streams inside it?
Is this no longer Afonja land?

So many questions running through my mind

YorubaNistan Taliban Muslims won't like this.

Seems its animals that lives there.

Imagine where these imps that always rant against Igbo's on Nairaland creep out from.

Afonja-z ajoka.

Nigeria is a shit hole. God no go let me raise my Kids here.

Ogun state, a state with the highest IGR in Africa cannot boast of clean portable water.

Nothing Dapo Abiodun no go see inside Oke-Mosan.

bomb24:
Nigeria is a shit hole. God no go let me raise my Kids here.

Amin....

I don't want to believe that in this age, there re still mud houses in Ogun state.

This is unbelievable. Ogun of all places?

BKayy:
Chai. What happened in the last picture?
Was it the place earthquake happened?
Why is the ground open with streams inside it?
Is this no longer Afonja land?

So many questions running through my mind

Afonjas always claim Lagos as their home state. All of them na lagosians. So much for my sophisticated people

This is bad,very very bad.
At this age?�

Abia state better pass this one o



North2023

The funny thing is that
Even with all the trash eboes talk on Nairaland

They are trooping to the same Ogun State everyday


I love how eboes fool themselves

I sorry for all of you

APC has finished the SW

I thought all the roads in Ogun are paved with gold?

theTranscriber:
I smell Propaganda


Make i book space

I dey wait front page

Olodo, how's this propaganda? Didn't you see the links posted below the article.

SarkinYarki:
APC has finished the SW

I heard the governor and deputy travelled to the United kingdom to enjoy themselves while allowing Ogun indigenes to drink water from a contaminated river.

OP, you have to stop this your lies, there is no place like this in Afonja land, this is somewhere in the East. We the Afonja Yoruba Muslims condemn this your lies in all totality. There is no gully (bottomless pit) in our land cuz when our fallen demon fell from the sky, he hit his head on the floor and every part of Yoruba land turned to Dubai and U S combined together. We will not take this.

Blackfire:
Abia state better pass this one o



North2023

By far but you'll see them shouting that Ogun state's IGR is bigger than that of Japan, Korea and Guatemala join together.

CallmeGideon:
OP, you have to stop this your lies, there is no place like this in Afonja land, this is somewhere in the East. We the Afonja Yoruba Muslims condemn this your lies in all totality. There is no gully (bottomless pit) in our land cuz when our fallen demon fell from the sky, he hit his head on the floor and every part of Yoruba land turned to Dubai and U S combined together. We will not take this.

And this is a state that has produced a former president both military and civilian, and current vice president. a self acclaimed state with professors and learned scholars.
I heard the governor and deputy have eloped leaving their people to drink brown water.

[quote author=ThEGodFaThEr106 post=106457528][/quote]
lolzz guy u be cruz.

The painful part is that most of the afonjas on nairaland are from this town but they will be the first to shout "IGR IGR IGR" with thick saliva dripping out from the side of their mouth like imbeciles.

Ndi civilization.

Ogun state students now go to school with cutlass to avoid a repeat of Isikilu waskili, the fulani hersmen who chased away all the villagers in Ibarapa and Igangan to Benin republic.

You gotta be kidding me Igboland no worst like this ooohhh

ThEGodFaThEr106:

And this is a state that has produced a former president both military and civilian, and current vice president. a self acclaimed state with professors and learned scholars.
I heard the governor and deputy have eloped leaving their people to drink brown water.

The governor, his deputy and Speaker japa and leave them to drink brown water. After drinking the contaminated water, they fall into the gully (bottomless hell) that has ravaged their brown roof republic.

Cruise full this nl