May 24, (THEWILL) – To reduce the Cholera outbreak that has killed thousands of people, especially children in Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation, Merry Gold Water Charity UK, has decided to sink modern boreholes in rural communities across the country to combat the menace and other waterborne-related diseases among the less privileged, who depend on local sources of water.
Merry Gold Water Charity UK is a non-profit Charity organisation duly registered in Nigeria and with 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 to water to tackle water crisis as well as ameliorating poverty of the vulnerable in rural communities in Lagos State and by extension Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of Merry Gold Water Charity UK, Adenuga, said in an 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 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 contributed to the spread of waterborne diseases including cholera, typhoid fever, and diarrhoea which could lead to the death of vulnerable particularly women and under-five children in rural communities where lakes, wells, and rivers among others were 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 first to worst-hit households in rural communities in Lagos due to the stress the poor residents undergo daily to getting portable water in their homes.
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, noting that it was the main reason the organisation chose Odo Ayandelu, Agbowa-Ikosi, Epe, Ikorodu local government areas, among others, for the projects.
Adenuga, therefore, stated the reason for fundraising for the water project saying that since it wasn’t easy to get funds from the federal and state government, he resorted to seeking funds from private individuals, corporate organisations, volunteers, friends and well-wishers, to make the dream a reality in Lagos, insisting that the project needs more donations for continuity to spread to other states in the country.
He 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 Nigerians’ 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 who 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 by 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 for clean water sources. This staggering statistic highlights the magnitude of the problem, high morbidity and mortality rates among children under five. The use of contaminated drinking including diarrhoea leads to deaths of more than 70,000 children under five annually.
Poor access to improved water and sanitation in Nigeria remains a major contributing factor to UNICEF in Nigeria.
“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 the water crisis. 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.
“The impact of water scarcity on rural communities in Lagos includes: Health Risks: Waterborne diseases thrive in communities with limited access to clean water and sanitation, leading to higher rates of illness and mortality, particularly among others. Economic Burden: Limited access to water hinders agricultural productivity and children under five affecting their educational attainment and perpetuating the cycle of poverty, economic activities, further exacerbating poverty and food insecurity. Social Inequality: Water scarcity deepens existing social inequalities, with the marginalised.Education Disruption: Children, especially girls, may miss school to collect water, and populations face greater challenges in accessing basic services and resources.
“Lagos’ worsening clean water supply crisis has been due to a combination of factors, including development, and social equity. Sadly, the fanfare with which different water intervention Addressing the water crisis requires concerted efforts from governments, non-governmental attention to the sector, bad management, etc. dilapidated water infrastructure, corruption, inconsistent policies, low financial allocation and low burden of water scarcity on vulnerable communities, promoting health, economic, organisations, and international partners to improve water infrastructure, promote sustainable water management practices, and ensure equitable access to clean water and sanitation services. Investments in water infrastructure and innovative solutions are crucial to alleviating initiatives that have been launched in Nigeria by governments at all levels that have not been matched with tangible outcomes for the long-suffering populace.
“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. At the moment, the sanitation, and inculcating proper hygiene behaviors among the populations that it serves, people of Owu-Ikosi community and their livestock depend on inadequate cloudy and hinged on a budget of £10,000 (Ten thousand Pounds), will be similar in scope, general community that will solve the immediate water needs of over 3000 inhabitants. In this project, unsafe water mainly comes from nearby streams and wells.
“This is a water charity project for the communities. Funding a project of this magnitude requires adequate funding for each of the projects. At the moment, we rely on donations from corporate donors, individuals and volunteers, simply because the process of getting funding from the government is not that easy, although we will try to approach the State Government for funding because it’s not something that we could do alone. At the moment, whatever we get from donations is what we’re using towards the projects. Hence the fund-raising events”, he added.
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