Daniel Austin, wakes up every morning to fetch water from an NYSC Corper’s lodge in Baba Street, Abacha Road, Maraba, Nasarawa State.
Austin said his family lacks water and relies daily on the free water from the lodge for their washing, cooking and other needs.
“The water is good, and sometimes when I don’t get water because they are not around or something, I will have to buy water or go far to fetch free water,” he said.
It’s almost the same situation for Favor Idowu, a teenage benefactor of this water supply, said
“In my house, we have a well. But the water is so bad that we use it only for the toilet. At the Corpers lodge, I get good water that my family use for drinking and cooking.”
Austin and Idowu are only a few of the 133 million Nigerians with no access to clean water. While they are both lucky to benefit from the benevolence of the corper’s lodge, the United Nations posits that 117,000 children die in Nigeria due to water-related illnesses, the highest in the world.
This situation is even worse in rural communities, where children have had to walk long distances, sometimes missing school periods to get water.
This water scarcity still persists despite the millions of dollars sunk into water projects across Nigeria, including loans and grants obtained from international development partners, and can be traced to climate change. Water aid insists that frequent flooding is polluting water sources and long droughts keep drying up the springs.
Water for the thirsty
Dennis Edogor, the Chief Shepherd of the NYSC Lodge, said they provide the water at no charge because the corp members are aware of the water challenges around them, and that is the least they can do to ameliorate the suffering around them.
“Our intentions are pure. We give water without expecting anything in return. I come from a place where if our enemy is thirsty, we give it to them,” he said.
The house, an accommodation for Youth Corp members, mostly of the Christian faith, is funded by contributions from Corp members. It is from the contribution that the house pays the light bill to ensure water is always available in the tank, and when there is no public power supply, the house dips its hand into its purse to get fuel for its generator.
It is that belief in brotherhood and unity that fuels the corp members’ kindness. “Water is essential for living; a human cannot survive without water, and since we have this water, we decided to share. It’s the least we could do for our host community,” Egodor said.
