Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
In order to reduce the Cholera outbreak that has killed thousands of people especially children in Nigeria, a non-governmental organization, Merry Gold Water Charity UK, has decided to sink modern boreholes in rural communities across the country to combat the menace and other water-borne related diseases among the less privileged who depend on local sources of water.
Merry Gold Water Charity UK is a non-profit charity organization duly registered in Nigeria and with the United Kingdom’s Charity Commission by Prince Akeem Adenuga and his wife, Princess Abimbola Adenuga and was launched on Saturday, January 30, 2021, with the mission to provide clean and safe drinking water to tackle water crisis as well as ameliorating poverty in rural communities in Lagos State and by extension Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of Merry Gold Water Charity UK, Adenuga, said in an exclusive interview that the water project would go a long way to fight the cholera outbreak in the country, where according to UNICEF, over 70,000 young children due to the disease die annually; hence the need to establish the project starting in Lagos State and later extend to other part of the country as fundraising of the project increases.
He lamented that scarcity of safe drinking water contributes to the spread of waterborne diseases including cholera, typhoid fever, and diarrhoea which could lead to the death of the vulnerable in society particularly women and under five children in rural communities where lakes, wells, and rivers among others, remain their only sources of water which were not hygienic to their healthcare system.
The CEO wondered why Nigeria, a country of over 200,000,000 people and the most populous black nation, is lacking access to clean and safe drinking water which prompted his action to launch the water project to provide water to worst hit households in rural communities in Lagos.
He mentioned the impact of the water crisis in Lagos rural communities including health risks from waterborne diseases; economic burden, economic activities, social inequality and education disruption, underscoring the main reason the organization chose Odo Ayandelu, Agbowa-Ikosi, Epe, Ikorodu local government areas, among others, for the projects.
Adenuga said, “The global water crisis is a pressing issue that affects millions of people worldwide, with Africa, particularly Nigeria, facing severe challenges. The peculiarity of Nigeria’s acute water supply, economic, and social challenges, particularly for vulnerable populations such as rural situations, is exacerbated by population growth, climate change, and inadequate water infrastructure. The scarcity of clean and accessible water sources poses significant health to communities that continue to depend on natural sources such as rivers, lakes, streams, ponds and unsafe wells.
“According to the United Nations, more than two billion people globally lack access to safety at least one month per year. This means that a significant portion of the world’s population is
managed drinking water services and more than four billion people face severe water scarcity grappling with gross inadequacy in water supply, leading to dire consequences.
“In Nigeria, the water crisis is deeply entrenched, with approximately 60 million people (out of an estimated 200 million people) –representing about 30% of the population –lacking access, particularly in a country with one of the largest populations in Africa. The lack of access to safe water contributes to the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera, and typhoid fever, and water and poor sanitary conditions result in increased vulnerability to water-borne diseases, and diarrhoea, leading to preventable deaths and increased healthcare costs clean water sources. This staggering statistic highlights the magnitude of the problem, high morbidity and mortality rates among children under five.
“Rural communities in Lagos State, Nigeria’s economic hub, are disproportionately affected by
health and economic development. Women and children often bear the brunt of water scarcity, safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities. This has severe implications for the public. Despite being close to urban centres, many rural areas lack reliable access as they are responsible for fetching water over long distances, limiting educational and economic opportunities.
In July 2024, and in line with its deliberate mission of providing clean water, improving layers of fencing, landscaping, fetching points, generator houses, security houses, labour, Merry-Gold Water Charity is planning to commence another water project in Owu-Ikosi components, and impact to the Odo-Ayandelu community water scheme, in addition to multiple
needs, project management and government/local authority permits.