07082020 - 20 killed, houses burnt in fresh S-Kaduna attacks

28 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020
Why I’m driving water revolution in
Taraba South — Sen Bwacha
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha is the current
Deputy Minority Leader in the 9th Senate.
He was elected under the platform of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, into the Red
Chambers to represent Taraba South for a
third term in 2019. His political opulence
stems from way back when Nigeria
returned to Democracy in 1999 and still
remains relevant till date. As a vocal
lawmaker in the National Assembly,
Bwacha in this Interview with select
journalists speaks on the issue of insecurity,
economic diversification and the water
revolution he has commenced in Southern
Taraba.
By Femi Bolaji, Jalingo
TARABA South where you
represent has in recent times
been the centrepiece of the Tiv/
Jukun crisis which made some
groups accuse you of being silent
in the face of the incessant killings.
What is your take on this?
I can never keep silent over what
is affecting my people as a Senator.
I had raised the matter on the floor
of the Senate a couple of times and
have also addressed the media in
the National Assembly. My take on
this is that the security operatives
would have to make their presence
felt here in reasonable numbers so
as to bring this crisis to an end.
However, I am not unaware of the
fact that the security apparatus of
the country is overstretched because
of insecurity all over the country. The
executive should also appeal to
them to also improve their
manpower by recruiting more men
into the armed forces, police and
other paramilitary agencies so as
to reduce our worsening security
challenges. The reason is that every
zone in this country has this
challenge, be it kidnapping,
banditry, Boko Haram, killer
herdsmen or whatever name. They
are making life more difficult for
Nigerians and people are scared of
moving freely. But for us as
legislators we would continue to put
pressure for the right thing to be
done and our prayer is for God to
intervene.
The economy has been affected
by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
What can be done for us to fare
better in the face of this global
threat?
We are battling economically in
the face of the COVID-19 pandemic
because as a country we have failed
to hearken to the cry of
diversification. We have been
singing this like a national anthem
but we have refused to abide. We are
a people who speak the words but
do not match it with action,
otherwise we wouldn't have been
here. If Nigeria had diversified its
economy since 2003 during the
Maputo declaration for the
commitment of 10% of our national
budget to agriculture during the
reign of President Obasanjo who
himself is a farmer, we wouldn't have
been here. Yes, we cannot do
anything without money. But where
is the money? It is nowhere. We have
to continue praying for our leaders
because they are humans like you
and I and can't do magic. We as
leaders however must be proactive
and not go to sleep like palm oil.
However, this should not be limited
to the centre alone; all leaders from
t h e
grassroots
down to
the state
level
must see
this as a
major
challenge
t h a t
should be addressed.
Your constituency still
experiences epileptic power
supply which is seriously affecting
the wellbeing and productivity of
rural dwellers. What are you doing
to address this?
From the beginning, the
Kashimbila Power Project from was
to improve power supply in
•Senator Bwacha's motorised borehole
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
THE sleepy, agrarian Nghar
community of Gashish district
in Barkin Ladi Local Government
Area, Plateau State came to the
limelight, albeit for the wrong reason
in June, 2018 when gunmen
attacked it and other surrounding
communities killing hundreds of
people mostly women and children.
The heroic act of Imam Abubakar
who hid over 300 people in his
house and in a local mosque and
saved them from being killed also
drew the world's attention to the
community. The community,
located about 30 miles southwest of
Jos, the state capital became a ghost
of itself after the attack as survivors
fled to the various internally
displaced persons camps which
dotted the state at that time.
However, the people, driven by
hardship in the camps, returned to
the community in December 2019
to rebuild their homes and resume
their farming activities despite the
security challenges.
Before the 2018 attack, the
community members had been
suffering from water-borne diseases
due to lack of access to potable water
and upon their return, the situation
persisted with no one to render any
help. As the Village Head, Mabitin
Mallo lamented: "Although security
threats have reduced, lack of good
drinking water still remains a huge
threat." Hand-dug water wells in the
village which are as deep as 25ft and
above always dry up during dry
season, forcing the villagers to
source water from a stream nearly
a mile away from the community.
The said stream is shared with
animals, miners, those washing
clothes and those taking their baths.
They show no sense of hygiene as
everyone does whatever pleases
Southern Taraba. It is a project that
is still subsisting and it is almost
95% completed. I have been
involved in the entire process right
from the 7th Senate. Remember it is
a Federal Government project. We
are trusting that the Federal
Ministry of Water resources in
collaboration with the Ministry of
Power will be able to address the
power challenge in Southern
Taraba as soon as the project is
completed and inaugurated for use.
Meanwhile, we are exploring other
options towards providing
electricity in Taraba South. I have
met with the new MD of Rural
Electrification Agency, Ahmad
Salihijo, and the issue of rural
electrification in this zone has been
discussed.
What is the motivation for the
water scheme in Mararaba?
Actually, we have had this
challenge of water supply in
Mararaba since I was growing up
as a young boy. We had to trek
distances to fetch stream water.
When I got into government in 1999
as Commissioner for Agriculture, I
sunk local boreholes which have not
worked because the water level is
very poor. So, when I got this
opportunity in the 8th Senate, I tried
to work out a way by ensuring that
this community is linked to River
Suntai.
But the work was poorly done,
either from the implementers or
lack of technical expertise. So I
decided to work out a new provision
in the 2018 budget for N400 million
for the reticulation of water from
river Suntai to Mararaba. But on
further consultation, we discovered
that for effective reticulation from
the river to this community would
require over N1 billion. So, we
sought for corrigendum in the
budget and converted the project to
buying drilling rigs from India. We
bought two rigs while the remaining
funds were used to purchase
supporting machines for the drilling
of boreholes.
The COVID-19 pandemic
actually delayed the handing over
of the purchased machines to the
committee set up to manage the
execution of the project, but thank
God the machines have been
delivered and water scarcity will
soon become a thing of the past not
only in Mararaba but other
communities in Southern Taraba
where I represent. I am saying this
because the initial plan was only for
Mararaba; but since the project has
been changed, all other
communities under the five local
government areas in Taraba South
will benefit. The committee put in
place has been mandated to identify
communities in each local
government areas where modern
boreholes can be sunk and this is to
be done soon.
Modern solar-powered
boreholes
Added to this, I have also worked
out the provision of solar-powered
boreholes in the entire southern
Taraba and actually the National
Assembly through my intervention
made provision of N500 million for
the execution of this project. This will
be done in each of the five local
government areas in Taraba South
for the benefit of the people. Out of
this N500 million, 30% has been
released and going by the review of
the 2020 budget we have a
commitment from the president that
the release will be jerked to 50%. We
are trusting God if the fund is finally
released, it would speed up the
execution projects in my
constituency. My vision is to
introduce water revolution in the
entire Taraba South such that, no
matter how they are denied the
dividends of democracy in any other
area, my constituents should never
be denied water. The solar-powered
boreholes will be done by the
ministries and the energy
commission is one of the supervising
agencies that will execute this
project.
Two friends end Plateau’s Nghar community age-long water scarcity
them in the shallow stream. But
reprieve has finally come the way of
the once forgotten natives when the
villagers started drinking water
from a machine drilled borehole,
the very first in the village, donated
by two private families in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State.
It all started on May 2, 2020, when
a boy died in the village from
typhoid, believed to have been
contracted through unwholesome
water. Many other children,
including two of the deceased boy’s
siblings, were also diagnosed with
varying water-related diseases and
when news of the boy’s death and
the prevailing water situation was
brought to the public, the
benefactors promptly responded
and made the borehole available in
the village.
The duo of Bayo Balogun and his
friend, Chisom Ezeocha, who have
never been to Jos, the State capital
let alone Nghar, a remote village,
came together to sponsor the project,
saying they were "deeply touched"
when they got to know what the
community was passing through.
They, through a statement sent when
the water project was commissioned
added: "Even though we do not
know where the village is or the
people, as Christians, we know the
Nghar people are our brothers/
sisters in Christ. We have a common
humanity and are compelled by our
Father’s expectation in Matthew
25: 35, to help brethren in need."
The President of the Church of
Christ in Nations, COCIN, Rev. Dr.
Dacholom Datiri, who
commissioned the project through
COCIN Director of Information
and Communication Technology,
Rev. Peter Jakawa said: "The two,
both private sector workers with no
links to politics but Christian
evangelism, are saving lives more
•A hand dug well
than the present global response to
coronavirus. Coronavirus, the
world’s most dreaded disease killed
about 345,000 people in five
months, an estimated 65,000 every
month. This figure is about 55.2%
less than total number of deaths
caused by waterborne diseases."
State Commissioner for Water
Resources and Energy, Saad Bello,
commended the efforts of the
donors, saying, "Without water,
human survival is threatened". Engr.
Peter Kassam who is the General
Manager, Plateau Rural Water
Supply and Sanitation Agency,
PRUWASSA, added that "a
community that lacks access to
clean drinking water often
experiences less productivity due to
time wasted seeking water, and
increased health challenges".
Kassam also noted that
Government has sunk over 600
boreholes in rural communities in
the State but relies mostly on publicprivate
partnership due to resource
scarcity while the Chairman of
Barkin Ladi Local Government,
Ezekiel Mandyau stated that plans
are underway to provide roads,
bridges and clinics in the
community and other surrounding
villages.
A villager, Mrs. Sarah Joshua, a
mother of six, who said she fell and
got injured while trekking the
distance to get water for her family
expressed appreciation and prayed
God to bless the donors. Another
villager, Justina Ibrahim said she
and her two years old daughter had
fallen sick with typhoid and cholera
several times from drinking the
water from the stream and trekking
the distance with a baby on her back.
She described the intervention as
"God sent", adding that "every
villager treasures the gift just like
life." Imam Abubakar who has lived
most of his adult life in Nghar, was
really excited over the donation. He
asked: "Why is it that virtually every
help that goes to the poorest of
Plateau people often come from
outside?" He prayed for the donors
saying: "This graceful thing that has
happened to us has never happened
before. Only God will reward you
and your families."