How Gbemisola Saraki Rescue Pepele Community From Pollute Rivers That Threaten Lives

Water has remained a major accessory to the positive development of people, but water scarcity in some communities has caused untold hardship to citizens.

The situation is not different in Kwara State as many rural communities do not have access to drinkable water.

Pepele is a small community in Ilorin East local government of Kwara State, there is no functional public water system in the community.

The people in the community depend on stream and creeks water, there is a litany of lamentation, suffering, and pain as the people in the community are exposed to deleterious water diseases that debilitate and incapacitate them.

Although, the community has had no good road network or electricity for decades.

After years of hardship, the Honorable Minister of State for Mines & Steel Development, Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki came to rescue the community by facilitating a modern borehole for the community through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

The borehole that was installed in the community was a modern one with standard water treatment and solar for pumping the machine.

While speaking with Afrika Eyes correspondent, the Head of the community known as ‘Alaguwa’, Alhaji Alabi Salman, narrated how the community has been abandoned and suffering from some basic amenities especially drinkable water.

According to him, “If you see how dirty the water we drink in this community is, it is not different from mud, we apply alum into the water and allow it to settle down before we can drink or use it for cooking.

“Most of the people in the community have been affected because of the contaminated water that is used for domestic purposes, a lot of people have landed in hospitals due to the untreated water that they consumed.

“Many of our children have contracted an infection from the contaminated water they take, meanwhile, we don’t have any single hospital in this community.

A 25 liters gallon of water costs N200, from the water vendor, and though the water is not clean we managed to buy it because of the water scarcity.

The Alaguwa of Pepele, who can not hide his feelings appreciates the Honorable Minister of State for Mines & Steel Development, Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki for putting a smile on the faces of the community and making water available to the people.

He said she has never been in the community before but Senator finds it worth remembering that there is a community in Kwara that is suffering from water.

According to him, the community is still facing many challenges including a bad road network and lack of access to healthcare centers, he lamented how people die because they don’t have access to medical facilities in the community.

He said many pregnant women in the community will migrate to Ilorin before the day of delivery because they do not want to lose their unborn child and also lost their lives too in the process of giving birth.

“Sometimes victims will die while we are on our way to Ilorin for treatment because we did not have a healthcare facility in the community.

“Most of the farmers during the rainy season run lost due to the deplorable road network in our community and our people here are predominantly farmers,” he added.

He, however, called on the government and stakeholders to come to their aid as the people lack many basic amenities.

Elder Joel Akanbi, the chairman of the Pepele community, thanks Senator Gbemisola for her immense contribution to the community.

He urges the government to come to their aid and build a healthcare center for the community.

In his words, Alhaji Yusuf Alabi said that Senator Gbemisola has done something good for the community that the residents will never forget.

The Chief Imam of the Pepele community, Mallam Aliu Adedoyin, extends his gratitude and appreciation to Senator Gbemisola Saraki who came to their rescue and made the community access to clean water.

Iyanda Samuel Olusegun, the youth leader of the Pepele community with his unrelenting effort also intensifies how Senator Gbemisola used her office to rescue the Pepele community.

He, however, appreciates what the senator has done for the community for her enormous support for the residents of the community.