Gov Sani Bello Orders Water Equipment To Be Flown By Air

By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna

Water pumping gears worth several millions of Naira ordered by the Niger State Government from Germany are to be freighted by air to meet deadline fixed by the state Governor for all homes in the state capital, Minna to have running water taps.

The equipment were earlier billed to be shipped to Nigeria but the state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, while receiving briefs from the state Commissioner for Water Resources, Abubakar Idris Azozo, directed that the water gears be cargoed by air as against the earlier arrangements to beat time.

Governor Bello said time was running out for the administration which is struggling towards making impact as it heads into it’s midterm (of it’s first term) in office where much needs to be done to guarantee the confidence of the voting citizens.

‎Faced with daunting challenges, wobbling financial inclemency, poor revenue base at home and a decreasing federal subventions, the Governor is no doubt faced with stark reality of two odds, time and resources.

The water sector in the state have been anything but functional and the Governor have had to bare his fangs on the management of the state Water Board and the contractor handling repair and upgrade works at the Minna Water Works to fix the infrastructural decay at the place or have their jobs on the line.

Short of declaring a state of emergency on the water sector in the state, Governor Bello told the Commissioner for Water Resources to quickly cargo the water equipment including pumps, machines and other accessories by air rather than have them freighted by Ship on the high Sea which could take months to get to Nigeria.

Huge public outcry from citizens have continued to swell as water scarcity hits the state capital and elsewhere in parts of the state even as commercial water vendors who sourced their water from rivers and other unhygienic channels continue in their brisk business no thanks to the to sorry state of the state’s Water Works at Chanchaga.

On Thursday, Governor Bello directed Azozo to ensure that the remaining water pumps and accessories ordered from Germany for the Minna water project are freighted by air to the state so that they are installed quickly to bring to an end the embarrassing water supply problem in the state capital.

The Governor gave the directive when he sought to know from the Commissioner the time the equipment would arrive and be installed.

In his response, the Commissioner told the Governor that arrangements had been concluded to ship all the equipment to the country. But the Governor quickly interjected and directed that rather than use the Sea way, the equipment should be freighted by air.

“No please. Fly the equipment into the country. Shipping takes time and the water problem in Minna is an emergency. We cannot afford to delay in fixing the problem any longer” he said.

It would be recalled that few days ago, the Governor gave a matching order to the management of the state’s Water Board and the contractor handling the repairs of Chanchaga Water facility to fix it quickly or risk his anger.

“We have no time to waste. We must fix this water plant and i am not ready to take excuses from anybody for any further delay in fixing this problem” he told the management.

In no uncertain terms he bore mind out. “We must fix this water works. We must ensure regular and adequate water supply in the state”.