Residents of Okuta in the Baruten local government area of Kwara State has cried out for help over the perennial water shortage in the border community.

According to a cross-section of residents in the affected community who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Tuesday, they urged governments at all levels to urgently alleviate their plight of lack of adequate potable water supply in their areas.
The waterworks in the community had not been operated in the last three years, this is according to Malam Aliyu Umar, the Gunubero of Okuta.
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The traditional ruler stated that this is due to its network of pipes, which has gone bad.
“Our major problem here is the distribution network, which has gone bad. The pipes have become broken in the last three years and nothing has been done about restoring the network.
“There is need for new pipes to be laid and for the distribution network to be extended to other areas that were not covered in the past, because of the rapid growth of the town”, he said.
The Gunubero said that the present sources of water in the community were through wells, hand pumps and one motorised borehole, which he said, were not adequate for the town’s population.
He added: “We are seriously facing the problem of perennial water shortage. It has started now and if you come here by January, you will pity our situation.”
Umar explained that shortage of water was peculiar to Okuta than its other neighbouring communities in the local government.
He appealed for urgent assistance from government and bemoaned how a dam project by the Federal Government through the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, which was sited in the community was later diverted to another community some years ago.



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Also commenting on the situation, Mrs Hassanat Abubakar, a housewife, explained how women in the border area suffered to get water for domestic use, once the dry season sets in.
She pleaded with the government to assist in the provision of adequate water supply to the area, to ease the difficulties faced by women and children in sourcing for water.
An official of the Kwara Water Works Scheme in the town, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, said that poor power supply compelled the unit to stop work about three years ago.
He added that the situation had now been compounded by the rusty pipe network in the affected communities, as well as the need to expand the network, following the growing population of the town.
The source, however, declined to provide estimates required to restore full operations at the facility.
It was gathered thatOkuta, with an estimated population of over 100, 000 persons, is the largest town in the Baruten local government area of Kwara State.