News
Lagos communities decry water scarcity, demand govt intervention
Some Lagos residents have called on the state government to make potable water accessible to reduce the huge amount of money spent on buying water.
They disclosed this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos, against the World Water Day celebrated annually in March.
They urged the state government to reduce the spread of water-borne diseases in the state by ensuring the provision of portable water.
According to the World Health Organisation, water scarcity affects one in three people in the African region and is getting worse with population growth, urbanisation, and an increase in household and industrial uses.
While some residents attributed the lack of potable water in the state to poor management and inadequate infrastructure, others linked it to a lack of enough investment and human capital.
A resident in Akowonjo Local Government Area, Mr Ibrahim Mustapha, a businessman, who spoke with NAN, expressed dissatisfaction with the scarcity of potable water in their neighbourhood.
“I don’t know why water remains a big challenge in a state that is surrounded by large bodies of water. I am a 54-year-old man, and I can tell you that the last time I enjoyed public-sourced potable water was in my youth days.
We have had to rely on a privately generated water supply, which is not a good thing,” he said.
He called on the state government to make the water issue a priority and get it done once and for all.
Another resident, Mrs Folake Davies, a dentist who lives around Yaba, told NAN that the unavailability of potable water had led to increased household expenditure.
“This has resulted in buying sachet water for drinking and borehole water in gallons for other domestic use. This has added an extra financial burden on residents who are already struggling and posing environmental challenges like plastic pollution.
“Water scarcity also challenges the ability of residents to keep up with sanitation and healthful living habits, while predisposing them to water-borne diseases if the use of contaminated water continues,” she said.
She called on the state government to find a lasting solution to this menace as it affects residents’ way of life.
Another Makoko resident, Mr Saheed Abbas, an artisan, lamented the hardship that members of the community faced in accessing potable water, which had made its retailing a lucrative business.
“Before residents can access clean water in Makoko, they have to trek for a long distance. Some of them even use motorcycles to get clean water,” he said.
Abbas appealed to the state government to make life easy for them with the resuscitation of potable water in the community.
A resident living in the Igando area of the state, Mrs Lydia Anjorin, a business manager, was sad with the amount of money she spent on purchasing water in the area.
“This scarcity makes us spend significant amounts of money on bottled water and rely on potentially contaminated water sources, impacting our health and hygiene.
We demand that the authorities take steps to improve water access by building new water treatment plants, repairing existing systems, and implementing water conservation measures,” she said.
Mr Kayode Aderibigbe, a Lekki resident, expressed his frustration with the area’s water shortage.
“We often go without water for days, and when it’s available, it’s not even suitable for cooking or drinking. I was recently forced to relocate my family to my in-laws’ home due to a two-day water outage. I had to stay at one of my properties in Magodo just to take a bath.
The situation in Lekki is really disheartening,” Aderibigbe said.
However, for Mrs Ese Ayanwun, a resident of Lekki, access to clean water has become a reality in her area due to the efforts of the local water works.
Ayanwun said a water storage tank had been installed in her house that provides them with a reliable source of clean water.
“This initiative has brought significant relief compared to when we had previously struggled with water scarcity and contamination,” she said.
NAN reports that other areas such as Ajah, Ajao Estate, Ebute Metta, FESTAC and others also lack access to potable water.
A general physician, Dr Tunji Akintade, says lack of access to safe water leads to a wide range of health problems, including waterborne diseases, malnutrition, and increased vulnerability to infections.
Akintade stressed that safe and adequate water facilitates the practice of hygiene, critical to prevent morbidity and mortality, especially among children and vulnerable populations.
According to him, contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and numerous neglected tropical diseases.
“Safe and readily available water is crucial for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, or food production,” he said.
He urged the government to improve access to clean and safe water to enhance the health of citizens.
However, efforts to reach out to the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Water Corporation, Mr Anifowoshe Rasaq, for his comment proved abortive as his number has not been responsive as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, NAN reports that the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, in a report, has assured Lagos residents of a constant water supply by 2027.
Wahab said this when he took a tour of the Adiyan Phase 2 ongoing water project at Iju area of the state.
Wahab, who was impressed with the ongoing work, expressed optimism that Lagos residents would soon be enjoying uninterrupted water supply.
He said that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, had decided that the water problem must be solved.
“To solve the water problem, we had to come to Adiyan 2, which is a 70 million gallons per day project and the biggest. We have mobilised the contractor, so we just came here to see what they are doing so far, and I am glad the media men took the walk too.
“With 70 million gallons, and then we have Iju with Adiyan 1 alongside micro and mini water works, the majority of Lagos houses and homes will have pipe-borne water, which is our target, and we are looking at sometime in 2027,” he said.
NAN
Some filling stations and petroleum products marketers, partners of Dangote Refinery’s petrol, temporarily shut down for the past five days after the latest premium motor spirit price drop by the 650,000 barrels per day refinery.
Recall that for the past five days, MRS filling stations in Abuja, along Kubwa Expressway, and others have not dispensed fuel since Dangote Refinery announced its ex-depot fuel price reduction to N835 per litre on Tuesday, 16 April, 2025.
An official of MRS filling station, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to speak said the filling station is grappling with the loss incurred after Dangote’s latest price adjustment.
“It is because of Dangote’s latest price drop. The filling station had old stock, which it couldn’t sell at a loss.
“This is the reason we have shut down since Tuesday. We may reopen on Tuesday,” he said.
Meanwhile, another official at the filling station said the retail outlet is billed to reopen on Tuesday, noting that it has been undergoing minor maintenance.
“We have been on maintenance for the past few days, which is the reason the station was shut. We will reopen on Tuesday,” he said.
According to him, the filling station would commence dispensing at the new price of N910 per litre from Tuesday.
Other partners of Dangote Refinery, such as AP, Ardova, and Optima, are dispensing fuel between N910 and 920 per litre in parts of Abuja as of Monday, 21st April 2025.
Reacting to the development, the National President of Petroleum Retailers Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the latest fuel price drop affected the purchasing power of petrol retailers and marketers.
According to him, indiscriminate price adjustment, whether downward or upward, is not good for the petroleum downstream sector and the Nigerian economy.
At every point, if prices of petrol are indiscriminately changed without any clearly defined economic reason, the chances that it will impact on the buying power of retailers and marketers are there.
“It is not good for business, the economy, and Nigerians.
“Prices of petrol change for reasons that are understandable with proper information to retailers,” he said.
Recall that Gillis-Harry had earlier called for a six-month fuel price stability plan to halt fluctuations.
Earlier, the spokesperson for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, had hinted that marketers having old stocks of fuel will incur billions of losses following Dangote’s latest fuel price drop.
Last week became the second time the $20 billion refinery reduced its fuel price nationwide. This indicates a combined downward ex-depot price drop of N45 per litre.
Dangote Refinery had, on 10 April, reduced its gantry price of petrol to N865 per litre.
However, the ex-depot fuel price had further dropped to N835 per litre.
This comes after the federal government’s renewed commitment to the indefinite continuation of the naira-for-crude deal with other local refiners and the drop in global crude prices to around $66 per barrel.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently reduced its retail price to N935 per litre for customers in Abuja in response to Dangote Refinery’s latest price cut.
This means that Nigerians currently buy petrol at between N890 and N950 per litre, depending on the location nationwide.
News
NNPC’s Olufemi Soneye Emerges NIPR Spokesperson for 2025
Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.
Soneye (middle) receive NIPR’s prestigious award .
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr. Olufemi Soneye, has emerged the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) spokesperson of 2025.Announcing the award, the NIPR described Soneye as a “diligent” spokesperson, characterising him as “a strategist.” Soneye’s capacity to shape public opinion, also stood him out of the crowd of spokespersons, according to the Adjudication Committee, Chairman, Dr. Shaibu Hussein.
Represented by a member of the committee chairman, Lami Tuiaka, the chairman said the moment to the conclusion of the award was rigorous and demanding. He also predicated Soneye’s victory on his communication skills, crisis management and overall impact.
“Our committee comprising communication scholars, Public Relations practitioners, and media personalities worked tirelessly to review the nomination, assess performances and deliberate on the winner.
I must report that we carefully examined each nomination, considering factors such as communication skills, crisis management and overall impact,” he said.
Presenting him the plaque at the National Spokespersons Award 2025, chairman of the event Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Power, Hon. Joshua Audu, said the institute would celebrate Soneye throughout 2025 as the current NIPR spokesperson award winner.
He said: ” On behalf of the NIPR Award Night 2025, I have the honour and privilege to present the Spokesperson of the year 2025. Please join me to celebrate our latest spokesperson that we will celebrate throughout 2025 in the person of Olufemi Soneye.”
Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.
Amid a standing ovation, he said: “We are all happy and I am deeply honoured to receive this award tonight from NIPR. This award reflects the dedication of our entire team and we want to thank NIPR for all they have been doing.”
News
Mission to boldly grow food in space labs blasts off
ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.
Artwork: The experiment will orbit the Earth for three hours before returning to Earth and splashing down off the coast of Portugal.
(BBC): Steak, mashed potatoes and deserts for astronauts could soon be grown from individual cells in space if an experiment launched into orbit today is successful.
A European Space Agency (ESA) project is assessing the viability of growing so-called lab-grown food in the low gravity and higher radiation in orbit and on other worlds.
ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.
The team involved say the experiment is a first step to developing a small pilot food production plant on the International Space Station in two years’ time.
Lab-grown food will be essential if Nasa’s objective of making humanity a multi-planetary species were to be realised, claims Dr Aqeel Shamsul, CEO and founder of Bedford-based Frontier Space, which is developing the concept with researchers at Imperial College, London.
“Our dream is to have factories in orbit and on the Moon,” he told BBC News.
“We need to build manufacturing facilities off world if we are to provide the infrastructure to enable humans to live and work in space”.
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