₦airaland Forum

By Teslim Momoh

As an environmental scientist living in Abuja, I have seen firsthand how water scarcity can cripple the very essence of daily life. But never in my years here have I witnessed a crisis as dire as the one residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are facing today. For weeks now, taps have run dry across neighbourhoods in Gwarinpa, Apo, Lugbe, Durumi, Gudu, and even Maitama. Families are carrying buckets around in search of water. Businesses dependent on a steady supply are gasping for survival. Abuja has never had it this bad.

The reality is simple: water is life. A capital city without water is like a body without blood. Yet, under the current administration of Nyesom Wike, water issues have been pushed to the background while roads, bridges, and political battles have taken centre stage.

The minister appears more concerned with making cosmetic statements of development through infrastructure projects, ignoring the more pressing need for water. Roads do not quench thirst. Bridges do not cook food. People need water to live.

This prolonged crisis, we are told, is due to bureaucratic delays in approving funds to purchase treatment chemicals. That is an unacceptable excuse. Leadership is about anticipating needs and responding swiftly. When files pile up on a minister’s desk while taps run dry across the nation’s capital, it points to a failure of priority. As one resident lamented, “I have lived here for five years, and I have never seen such a prolonged scarcity.”

Wike must get off his high horse and listen. He is an appointee, not an emperor. He is not an elected official, and his duty is to serve residents, not to act like a monarch who hoards decisions. Strong-headedness and archaic ideas have no place in modern governance. Abuja deserves better. The minister must understand that he will be judged not by the number of bridges he builds but by how well residents can live under his watch. And right now, residents are suffering.

The minister should open his doors to experts and ideas instead of fighting everyone who brings suggestions. Delegating responsibilities is not a weakness; it is wisdom. Competent technocrats exist within the FCTA. Let them work. Let decisions move faster. Most importantly, let the water flow.

The solutions are clear: ensure timely funding for treatment chemicals, invest in modern water infrastructure, and prioritise water security as much as road expansion. Abuja is not just another city; it is Nigeria’s capital, and the taps should always be running.

Water is not a luxury. It is the most basic right of every resident. Mr. Minister, the judgment of history will not be on how many flyovers you inaugurated but on whether the people of Abuja had water to drink, cook, and live.


Momoh, an environmental scientist, writes from Kaura, Abuja.

https://independent.ng/wike-builds-roads-but-abuja-taps-run-dry/

Teslim...

Them don start again...

I thought Wike is your hearthrob ?

Awon sophisticated people

One at a time please.

Nobody can address all the problems of humanity in one swipe.

Finishing experts will soon be on their ways.

What were other past ministers of fct doing.
Cccc

Even God no satisfy una, how can man satisfy you people ...
Mr man , what's your own achievements?

Dirty fight, constructive criticism is better than bitterness, heaviness

This one just wan cap,the incoming water projects that will soon commence nko, Wata Bam Bam

You can also do that for the Abuja people. No be everything una go dey nag about

Richtaiwo:
One at a time please.

Nobody can address all the problems of humanity in one swipe.

Finishing experts will soon be on their ways.

Mr one at a time, can you live without water. Make una dey reason life better oo.

The writer is very bitter. What did he write under buhari ineptitude FCT minister?

We are moving forward,one step at a time.
If our basic needs where meant and maintained since 1960 till date, maybe na technological bio- weapon for war or agriculture na Nigeria for they invest in now.
Even if Wike give una public water now, Una go ask for public bathroom.

ogascomax:
Mr one at a time, can you live without water. Make una dey reason life better oo.

You mean those people have been getting water until when Wike started road construction?

I talk am, finishing experts will start arriving gradually.

Are you not Nigerian so what stops you from connecting the water tap to atlantic Ocean so it won't get dry?

A man like yourself build free psychiatric hospital in Anambra so can't you do the same?

😎😎😎
So, there are still parts of Nigeria
where citizens are waiting for government
to provide them water?? 💧🛁🚾🚽🏊🌊💧

esnbrutality:
Teslim...

Them don start again...

I thought Wike is your hearthrob ?

Awon sophisticated people

I've never seen such a lack of exposure as you have displayed. Must everyone in a particular class think alike? Even if in your own small way of thinking, everyone who belongs to a particular tribe must bear the same views, who then told you that everyone who bears Teslim must be from a certain tribe?

Nauseating.

It is most likely that they will get more kickbacks from road projects than water projects.

ogascomax:
Mr one at a time, can you live without water. Make una dey reason life better oo.

From 1960 till date. Wike is the Abuja minister bah?

His mission is to build roads and infrastructures. Any other governor that will come after him should concentrate on building water projects across fct

I stay around Galadimawa. My area haven't had water since Thursday last week. There was no notice or explanations, the taps just stopped running and no one knows when we will have water. You can't imagine the stress. In all the years I've lived in this city, it hasn't been this bad.

Does Wike care?

If the elites aren't affected, its not yet a problem.

Ordinary water wey no dey for how many days nah naim dey wan take say Wike no do anything for Abuja... People sef...

Let's br honest water ,good roads and steady electricity supply is essential for survival but above all, water is way more important.
It's not about politics all the time.

Seriously some comments here are out of this world, like what kind of wickedness did Nigeria give birth to since 2015 that has become a toddler in 2025?

The writer said that the water system has run dry and residents move around looking for water while Wike is only concerned a out roads....

The writer even went ahead to stress the reason for the water scarcity and what to do about it....

What Wike should do is to call the appropriate water ministry and let them but whatever chemicals for treatment of the water and supply will come back again ..

But some comments here are mostly from one tribe, and majorly from a section of the tribe , people who encourage wickedness as far as you are in their camp....

Nigeria wasn't this wicked during the time of Obasanjo, so why are we seeing this wickedness in the time of another Yoruba President?

tollyboy5:
From 1960 till date. Wike is the Abuja minister bah?

Did they tell you that from 1960 until the period they were having water problems that there was never water.

Richtaiwo:
You mean those people have been getting water until when Wike started road construction?

I talk am, finishing experts will start arriving gradually.

To think easy Na you dey make am hard. What if they started having water problems some five years ago and they were expecting the previous FCT minister to fix it and he did what he could do or did not improve it. Now they have a new minister if the previous one could not provide water will the present one fail them too.

ogascomax:
Mr one at a time, can you live without water. Make una dey reason life better oo.

Wetin the previous fct ministers do sef? He didn't even appreciate the good roads and the rail.

ogascomax:
Mr one at a time, can you live without water. Make una dey reason life better oo.

Wetin the previous fct ministers do sef? He didn't even appreciate the good roads and the rail.

Here in Lagos, if you wait for LASG to provide water for you with the rate the city is growing, you go wait tire.

The one that heal the sick, raised the dead, turn water to wine, walk on the sea and talk to five thousand people without microphone, una still manage kill am. wetin Wike want do wey una go see am.

searchng4love:
The writer is very bitter. What did he write under buhari ineptitude FCT minister?

I agree. Buhari's FCT Minister did nothing for 8 years.

Uwanogie:
His mission is to build roads and infrastructures. Any other governor that will come after him should concentrate on building water projects across fct

Elrufai built roads, parks and other public infrastructure and still delivered pipeborne water to residences in the city through the Usuma dam. Abuja had functional public transportation and was clean, green and safe. He didn't invite media houses just to flag-off the installation of streetlights but 20 years later, his records are still unmatched. Wike is overrated.