Residents in the Nassarawa State town want urgent resolution of the scarcity.

By Wale Odunsi

Residents of Keffi, in Nassarawa State, north-central Nigeria are suffering from acute water scarcity which has persisted for several weeks.

Sources say indigenes now trek long, tortuous, distances to get water, sometimes from a stream. Mostly affected are students of the state-owned Nassarawa State University, Keffi.

A 200-level Theatre Arts student said that the hardship started since the resumption of the second semester in July.

“It’s a pathetic situation. We buy bags of pure water to do virtually everything. That one too is now costly, the manufacturers jerked up the price to make more profit. We resort to the stream, which is mostly crowded. It is that bad,” he said.

Another student, who was on her way to a remote stream, said, “We heard the rain damaged a major pipe. The borehole that used to serve the whole community around campus is damaged. To most of us, it appears the government doesn’t care. We don’t blame them; their children are living in good conditions while their relatives don’t experience such. This is unfair, very unfair.”

Already, there are fears of disease outbreak as most communities can hardly maintain a clean environment, with the scarcity worsening the problem of filth.

Efforts to reach the state government for their comments on the water situation failed as calls to the State Commissioner for Water Resources were unanswered.