By Rasheedat Abidiesin
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| The facility building for the water project. PC- Rasheedat Abidiesin |
Your village has nothing to show for itself,” my friend said during an argument, his words striking a nerve.
“My town is not a village. I’m not comparing it to the cities, but we have grown beyond what you call a village,” I retorted, determined to defend the place I called home.
However, when my friend challenged me to name just one thing that made my town remarkable, my confidence crumbled. I stammered, struggled to find an answer and kept repeating with no sound, nothing convincing came to mind. I had been quick to defend my town, yet I could not point to a single thing to justify my claims.
That uncomfortable moment left me with a question I could no longer ignore: “What does my town actually have to show for itself?”
Although I had lived there for nearly a decade, I realised how little I knew about its history, geographical features, natural resources and other valuable assets. I had become so accustomed to my surroundings that I had barely stopped to understand what made the town unique or what it had to offer.
The picture of the pipes. Photo Credit: Rasheedat Abidiesin.
So determined to find answers, I began asking questions. In one of those conversations, an elderly man mentioned a dam.
"A dam?" I asked, puzzled. "What and where is that?"
The man explained that the dam had existed for years and served as a source of water supply, with water distributed to households through pipes installed in front of their homes.
Vastness of the Saki Dam. PC - Rasheedat Abidiesin
About The Water Supply
In a town called Saki, a SouthWestern city located in the Oke-Ogun zone, Oyo State, Nigeria with prominent landmarks such as the Asabari hill and Oge dam. It is located between latitude 8° 40'3.43"N and longitude 3°23'38.15"E having area of 2060 Km', population density of 189.5 Km' as of 2022 with population of 273,268 as at 2006; 390,500 as at 2022 as projected at annual growth rate of 2.3% as contained in population census obtained from the official website of Nigeria population commission.
Macrotrends explicitly puts the metro-area population of Saki in 2025 to be 472,000 which represents 4.42% increase from that of 2024; 452,000 in 2024 at 4. 39% increase from 2023; 433,000, in 2023 at 4.59% increase from 2022; and 414,000, in 2022 at 4.81% increase from 2021 (Macrotrends
2025).
A side view of the water supply. Photo Credit: Rasheedat Abidiesin.
While I was speaking with one of the ex officials of the water supply popularly called Baba Kareem Olomi, he explained the genesis of the water supply. “The genesis of the water is from four- four, but it is connected from the Abojupon route (areas within the Saki Community), and the water also linked to Ofiki Community and later joined at Osa,”he said.
Baba Kareem explained the water had been in existence for life, but the water supply was established and created as a modern Dam in 1965.
“There are stages of preservation of the water, the first step is to put water on the Aerator, so as to remove all the particles or any dirt that is coming with the water. The second step is the settlementation tank, where alum is being added, and then proceed to Filterbed, where there are different types of tank. After that is chemical preservation, chlorine and lime will be added, then comes in the settled tank. From the settled tank is the reservoir where the water will be pumped and distributed for the people,” Baba Kareem added.
Baba Kareem had worked for the water supply for almost 33 years and had retired for almost 20 years now. Baba mentioned that his work was one of the most important work, because water is something human beings can’t do without. He also mentioned how the price for water the was One naira, later 2 naira, and before he retired it was One thousand naira.
The view of the other side of the water supply. Photo credit: Rasheedat Abidiesin.
The households in Nigeria that use improved sources of drinking water are 73.4 percent. The South West Zone recorded the highest percentage of households with an improved main source of drinking water (87.0 percent), closely followed by South East and South South with 82.9 and 77. 0 percent respectively. The lowest was North West with 62.8 percent.
“My father told me that our house was one of the first houses that received water when the water supply came into existence, I lived in Isale Ola then where we suffered from scarcity of water,” Rasheed Adebola chipped in.
Rasheed Adebola also explained that his father's house was like a joint where everyone comes to fetch when the water has been pumped.
“Unfortunately, the water stopped working, and we don’t know why,” he ended.
A Signage indicating the Saki Town water project. PC - Rasheedat Abidiesin
Nigeria Water Statistics
Nigeria has 215 cubic kilometres of available surface water per year and also plenty stored in the ground.70% of the people in Nigeria have access to basic water supply but little access to clean drinking water. In rural areas in Nigeria, 39% of households lack access to at least basicwater supply.
The Average Nigerian uses 9 litres of water per day (compared to national acceptable minimum standards of 12 to 16 litres per day). Some of the most common sources of drinking water in Nigeria are tube wells, boreholes, and dug wells. Pipe-borne water accounts for 9.5% of domestic water supply to households.
70% of the people in Nigeria have access to basic water supply, according to a new analysis released by UNICEF. However, this basic water supply is not evenly distributed.
82% of people in the cities have basic water supply, while only 54% of people in rural areas do. Not only that, the wealthy segment in Nigeria typically has greater access to basic water supply than the poor segment.
Nearly 80% of well-off Nigerians have at least a basic water supply, whereas only 48% in the lower-income group have such access, according to World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The Average Nigerian uses 9 litres of water per day (compared to national acceptable minimum standards of 12 to 16 litres per day), according to a report released by Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Water Resources and UNICEF.
A Rusted Pipe Laid Bare Within Saki Metropolis. PC - Rasheedat Abidiesin
A survey conducted by Nigeria's Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF showed that about 60 million Nigerians do not have access to clean drinking water, which translate to about 33% of the population.
According to WHO (World Health Organisation), only about 19% of the people in Nigeria have access to safe and clean drinking water, even though 70% of the Nigerian population have access to basic water supply.