As water scarcity bites harder, residents of Ijaye, Kuto, Isale Igbein, Kugba, and other communities in Abeokuta have cried out, saying they were ignored by Governor Dapo Abiodun-led government in Ogun State.
The majority of those living in the Ogun State capital are currently faced with lack of access to potable water.
Because of the rocky nature of the metropolis, the digging of wells or boreholes is almost impossible, thereby subjecting the people to untoward hardship, especially during dry seasons.
Since he came to power in 2019, Gov Abiodun had promised to make water available in Abeokuta and other cities in the Gateway State.
However, residents of Abeokuta South Local Government said they are still battling water scarcity at the moment.
“We thought we would not face anything like water scarcity this year. That was what the governor promised us last year. But here we are, searching for water here and there. Something must be done about water in Abeokuta,” Abidemi Akinbami, a resident of Oke-Igbein, told journalists on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.
On Tuesday, the Chairman of Eleko Community Development Association in Ijaye, Abeokuta South, Mr Kehinde Omirinde, said efforts by the community to get running water from the State government have repeatedly proved abortive.
Omirinde said both the governor and others in government were on different times appealed to for potable water in the community.
However, he regretted that “none of those elected or appointed in this present administration considered us for any reliable source of water.”
Omirinde, who spoke at the commissioning of a water project donated by the Asiwaju Leragun of Egbaland, Chief Toyin Amuzu, said “the hardship usually faced by residents of the area in their search for potable water is unspeakable,” expressing confidence that it would now be a thing of the past.
He added further that, “we have requested from those in government to help us with water, but none of them could do anything for us.”
Meanwhile, a governorship aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, has berated the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for failing to provide basic needs like water for Ogun residents.
