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Lagos communities decry water scarcity, demand govt intervention

Published

9 months ago

March 31, 2025

284 Views

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

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Atiku Backs Suspension of new tax framework , following unconstitutional forgery

This constitutional violation exposes a troubling reality: a government obsessed with imposing ever-increasing tax burdens on impoverished Nigerians rather than creating conditions for prosperity.

Published

19 hours ago

December 23, 2025

OCHEFA

33 Views

Atiku Abubakar, ex- Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) has strengthened the public calls for the suspension of the Federal Government’s new tax laws following the discovery of illegal and unauthorized alterations made to document after passage by the National Assembly.

Atiku, in a statement he signed personally on Tuesday, asserted “What the National Assembly did not pass cannot become law.”

Atiku described the forgery of the tax law as “a brazen act of treason against the Nigerian people and a direct assault on our constitutional democracy.”

The statement reads: “This draconian overreach by the executive branch undermines the foundational principle of legislative supremacy in the making of laws.

It reveals a government more interested in extracting wealth from struggling citizens than empowering them to prosper.

The Unconstitutional Alterations

The following substantive changes were allegedly illegally inserted into the tax bills after parliamentary approval, in clear violation of Sections 4 and 58 of the 1999 Constitution:

1. New Coercive Powers Without Legislative Consent

*Arrest powers granted to tax authorities

*Property seizure and garnishment without court orders

*Enforcement sales conducted without judicial oversightThese provisions transform tax collectors into quasi-law enforcement agencies, stripping Nigerians of due process protections that the National Assembly deliberately included.

2. Increased Financial Burdens on Citizens*Mandatory 20% security deposit before appealing tax assessments*Compound interest on tax debts*Quart

erly reporting requirements with lowered thresholds

*Forced USD computation for petroleum operations

These changes erect barriers that prevent ordinary Nigerians from challenging unjust assessments while increasing compliance costs for businesses already struggling in a difficult economy.

3. Removal of Accountability Mechanisms

*Deletion of quarterly and annual reporting obligations to the National Assembly

*Elimination of strategic planning submission requirements

*Removal of ministerial supervisory provisions

By stripping away oversight mechanisms, the government has insulated itself from accountability while expanding its powers—a hallmark of authoritarian governance.

A Government Against Its People

This constitutional violation exposes a troubling reality: a government obsessed with imposing ever-increasing tax burdens on impoverished Nigerians rather than creating conditions for prosperity.

Instead of investing in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and economic empowerment that would expand the tax base organically, this administration chooses the path of aggressive extraction from an already struggling populace.

Nigeria’s poverty rate remains alarmingly high, unemployment continues to devastate families, and inflation erodes purchasing power daily.

Yet rather than supporting citizens to become more productive, thereby generating sustainable tax revenues, the government employs draconian measures to squeeze resources from people who have little left to survive.

True economic growth comes from empowering citizens, not impoverishing them further through punitive taxation and erosion of legal protections.

A thriving economy with prosperous citizens naturally generates robust tax revenues. But this requires vision, investment, and patience, qualities evidently lacking in an administration that resorts to constitutional manipulation to achieve short-term fiscal goals.

I hereby call upon:1. The Executive to immediately suspend the implementation of the tax law effective January 1, 2026 to give room for a proper investigation.

2. The National Assembly to immediately rectify these illegal alterations through proper legislative processes and hold accountable those responsible for this constitutional breach.

3. The Judiciary to strike down these unconstitutional provisions and reaffirm the sanctity of the legislative process.

4. Civil Society and all Nigerians to reject this assault on democratic principles and demand governance that serves the people rather than exploiting them.

5. The Government to abandon this path of extraction and oppression, and instead focus on policies that enable Nigerian citizens and businesses to thrive.

6. The EFCC to immediately investigate and prosecute those found culpable in the illegal alteration of our laws to extort and defraud the Nigerian people.

What the National Assembly did not pass cannot become law.

This fundamental principle must be defended, or we risk descending into arbitrary rule where constitutional safeguards mean nothing.

The Nigerian people deserve better than a government that circumvents democracy to impose hardship.

We demand accountability, constitutional compliance, and economic policies that build prosperity rather than deepen poverty.”

News

FIRS says NIN to serve as Tax ID for individuals

The new tax law is scheduled to come into force in January 2026 and mandates the use of a Tax ID for certain financial and economic transactions, including banking-related activities.

Published

19 hours ago

December 23, 2025

OCHEFA

35 Views

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that the National Identification Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will now automatically serve as the Tax Identification Number (Tax ID) for individual Nigerians under the country’s new tax regime.

FIRS also said that registered businesses will also no longer need a separate Tax Identification Number, as their Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration (RC) number will now function as their Tax ID.

The Service made the disclosure on its official X handle on Monday, ahead of the passage of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), one of the new tax laws introduced as part of the Federal Government’s broader fiscal and tax reform agenda .

The new tax law is scheduled to come into force in January 2026 and mandates the use of a Tax ID for certain financial and economic transactions, including banking-related activities.

News

Tanker crushes Akpabio’s dispatch rider to death

We went to Oyo State for the installation of our colleague, but the vehicles that came to pick me up at the Ibadan airport, unfortunately, my dispatch rider was run over by a tanker driver, and his head was shattered.

Published

20 hours ago

December 23, 2025

OCHEFA

40 Views

Ibrahim Hussaini, a dispatch rider attached to the convoy of Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, has been killed after a petrol tanker rammed into the motorcade.

Although the Senate President did not state the precise location of the crash, he said that it happened in Ibadan, Oyo State, shortly after members of his convoy picked him up from the Ibadan Airport.

Akpabio announced the death during the plenary on Tuesday; he extended condolences to the family of the deceased.

Dispatch riders, who are police officers, form part of the security detail of top government officials and typically escort convoys on motorcycles.

“We went to Oyo State for the installation of our colleague, but the vehicles that came to pick me up at the Ibadan airport, unfortunately, my dispatch rider was run over by a tanker driver, and his head was shattered.

“We just buried him 15 minutes ago in Kogi State. He left two wives and four children,” the Senate President told lawmakers