Maccido: In Sokoto, Water Defines Development
The son of the late Sultan Muhammadu Maccido and Commissioner for Water Resources in Sokoto State, Alhaji Yusuf Mohammed Maccido, speaks with Louis Achi on what Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto is doing to revive the water sector in the state through the dams, water boreholes, treatment chemicals and related infrastructure
The opposition PDP has been attacking Governor Ahmad Aliyu ‘s administration and also targeting its water programmes. Can you share with us as Commissioner of Water Resources the steps being taken to ensure that the people of Sokoto State have access to potable water.
We should as much as possible try and ignore the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and concentrate on the difference that Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto is making in governance, unlike what our dear state suffered in the hands of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
But like you know, they have been mischievous and we have a duty to debunk their infantile lies. If we keep quiet Nigerians will believe their lies. It’s really unfortunate that PDP has refused to accept that we have not only defeated them but have buried them by doing the things they refused to do like providing water for the people, building roads and schools etc.
The PDP’s plan is to bury our efforts with their negative publicity but thankfully the people of Sokoto State are well informed about our governor’s efforts to change their despondency to one of hope. When we came, the water supply system in Sokoto State had virtually collapsed. Even the Ministry of Water Resources lacked water.
So, how can a ministry that can’t take care of itself take care of the people? What they (PDP) did denying people access to water was criminal. Can you imagine a place like Sokoto State that’s very hot, without water? The situation we met was a total disaster. So, before his appointment of commissioners, the governor constituted a committee to immediately restore water supply to the people.
The other challenge was that the state account was in red but the governor had to source money to finance the committee, to buy chemicals for water treatment and to fix the equipment that were broken down. The governor deserves commendation for the several immediate steps that he took, including the sinking of emergency boreholes, and procuring water tankers to supply water to the people. This is what leadership is all about.
And once I was appointed, the governor’s unambiguous mandate to me was to ensure that I resolved the situation and move forward to ensure that this never happened again. The governor did fantastically well in confronting the challenges.
Specifically, what’s the mandate of the Ministry of Water Resources?
The Sokoto State Ministry of Water Resources is responsible for improving water supply in the state. Its other statutory responsibilities include, establishing an emergency committee to address water supply challenges, ensuring the smooth operation of water treatment facilities, providing safe drinking water to the public, extending and improving water supply infrastructure, collaborating with the federal government to improve water supply and ensuring that all the 72 dams in the state are fully functional.
And allow me to say with all modesty that we have so far given a good account of ourselves in terms of my ministry’s responsibility to provide clean, potable water for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes. Water defines development. We are not where we want to be. But there is a road map and the commitment to ensure that our people have access to water.
You talked about the emergency committee that the governor had to put in place. Please clarify.
The committee was a child of necessity and it performed creditably well. Like you know the water in Sokoto State like some other places in Nigeria is hard. By the standard of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ), the hardness of the underground water in Sokoto State exceeds the permissible limits due to a number of factors.
The most important take-away is that it’s a matter of concern because hard water is not safe for drinking and impacts negatively on the efficiency and lifespan of appliances like electric kettle, and other appliances that require water for operation. It even prevents soap from lathering. So, it is important that it’s treated because it causes dry and itchy skin.
It has taste, et cetera. But treating hard water is very expensive. This background is very important so that people can understand the situation because even at the National Council on Water, most of my colleagues don’t seem to understand why the North gets some priority in water projects.
Working with the governor they restored power after payment of the outstanding bills. They equally addressed the issue of obsolete equipment which I met on my appointment. It’s scandalous that no pumping machine was working and this affected the pumping of raw water for treatment. Same with other critical equipment and machineries. To worsen matters this equipment cannot be bought off the shelf and they are extremely expensive.
You need to open letters of credit, and the equipment manufactured to your specifications. So, in the interim we had to fix them – because again there was no budgetary provisions to buy new ones. I respect the governor’s prudence and insistence on due process and his appreciation of the challenges and finding solutions to the problems. He supported our efforts to get experts from anywhere to overhaul the equipment – which we did.
The governor also ensured funding for the purchase of chemicals. Without treating the water, it is as good as not giving the people water; so, they don’t trust you and consume untreated water.
So how have things changed?
Since my assumption of duty as commissioner, every month, without any delay, the funds for procurement of chemicals for water treatment are released as is expected of a responsible government. During Aminu Tambuwal’s administration funds were released whenever the governor felt like. Because he was hardly around, he didn’t know the state of affairs.
That administration was a tragedy. Again, because Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto cares about the people he has entered into partnership with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and luckily for us the former Minister of State of Water Resources is from Sokoto State and he has been of tremendous assistance in several respects. The only problem is the delay in the procurement process.
The 40million gallons per day water project was initiated by our father, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, during his administration. As at the time he left office the project was 70 per cent completed. Unfortunately, the administration that came after him recklessly abandoned the project in the eight years it held sway.
Governor Ahmed Sokoto has rightly decided to complete the project because completing the project will surely go a long way in addressing the lingering water shortage the metropolis and environ are experiencing.
Again, if he refuses to complete the project, the tax payers’ money already sunk in the project will be wasted and the cost would drastically skyrocket.
The other project is the expansion of water supply to the new areas of the capital that are developing. Like you know, Sokoto is expanding, and there is the need to service the new areas. I saw a newspaper report that the former administration of Tambuwal awarded the contract to a Chinese company for the supply of water to the people and for the construction of the 40 million gallons of water per day.
He never completed the project. Unlike Tambuwal who abandoned every project he inherited, the Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto administration has continued with the project because it will help ensure constant water supply. Aminu Tambuwal abandoned this project for eight years. This government sees itself as a continuation of the Aliyu Magatarda Wamakko’s administration.
So, we are completing the projects that he started but which Tambuwal abandoned for no reason. And this is the reason why I am very angry with officials of the Tambuwal’s administration for criticizing this administration when they achieved absolutely nothing. Quote me, that administration was a disaster. He was a big flop and this is why he lost in 2019.
Tambuwal promised to build houses for the people but as usual failed to build one unit in eight years while Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto has completed the 500 housing units started by our father and leader, Wamakko, and commenced the construction of another 500 housing units bringing to a total of 1,000 houses completed under one and half years.
I want to assure you that once this project is completed, we will have the capacity to supply 100% water to the people of Sokoto State. We are working on power which is critical in water supply – like chemicals. We hope to get sufficient power because it is very important in our plans to deliver water round the clock.
Are there other related critical projects you are working on?
The other project we are working on is a rural scheme that would ensure that the rural areas have access to water which the governor promised during the campaign. Hopefully, by December, the project would be completed.
Under a programme known as SPIN, about 5,000 acres of land would be prepared for farming. It’s a joint initiative of the state government, the federal government and the World Bank. It about $780m and when converted into naira would be running into trillions. Officials of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources have been to Sokoto to identify the dams that we are going to use for the project.
What are the other achievements of your ministry?
The other achievements of the ministry include the installation and reconnection of pipelines for water supply, replacement of submersible pumps, and ensuring availability of safe water for the people and industries despite the challenges of operating the plants; like the high cost of diesel due to lack of electricity, and vandalization of critical equipment by hoodlums.
The governor hates excuses. He wants the job done. And he has shown us the way by moving forward despite the Aminu Tambuwal administration leaving him with an empty treasury, unpaid pensions and gratuity and several other crises.
In transforming the state’s water story, are you just targeting only the Sokoto metropolis?
There is the water project for the local government areas. So, it’s not like we have concentrated on the capital. It’s just that some areas fall within the metropolis. Again because of resources we are following our programme strictly. When we are done with this programme, we would have covered at least four local government areas and some part of the old city of the capital.
We are constructing boreholes everyday but it’s still not enough because the last administration refused to provide the people with water, schools and even when it awarded contracts for roads they were abandoned after full payment.
We have already started the rehabilitation of some earth dams across the state. The governor intends to rehabilitate all the 72 dilapidated earth dams before the end of his first term in office.
Let’s look at dam management in Sokoto. Does that come under your ministry’s purview. If so, what is the status of dams in your state?
Dams are supposed to be under my ministry but the problem is that dams have multiple uses – agriculture, power generation and for domestic use. We have a department of dam in my ministry. But because it’s inter-woven we all cooperate to ensure that our people derive all the benefits.
But it definitely does affect the implementation of projects especially if we have silo mentality. At the federal government level, they are trying to work out which ministry will drive the agricultural programme. Meanwhile there is a committee headed by the Vice President, with the Ministers of Water Resources, Agriculture and Environment, as co-chairmen.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power is the Secretary. All are part of efforts to ensure a smooth implementation of the Sustainable Power and Irrigation in Nigeria (SPIN) programme which is a collaboration between the federal, state governments and the World Bank.
Under the scheme the existing dams in the state will be used for irrigation of more than 50,000 Hectares of land for dry season farming across the country. There’s also an electricity component that would hopefully increase hydro-electricity power. In Sokoto, Goronyo Dam and Kware Dam has been selected for this project. Around $780m have been earmarked for these projects.
