Leadership (Abuja)
22 February 2009
Aware of their strategic relevance to residents of satellite towns, especially in the dry season, water vendors now pride themselves as water board and sell their product only to choice customers.
In Mararaba, Nasarawa State, where there are no provisions for pipe-borne water, coupled with the high population density in the area, the water vendors are practically worshipped. They are begged to deliver jerry cans of water for residents.
As early as 5:30am, they are seen in various compounds shouting "water borehole, water borehole" to alert residents that they are around. Residents who are always in a hurry to beat the usual heavy vehicular traffic of the Keffi/Abuja expressway will usually deposit money to their neighbours to buy water for them.
Mai ruwa (water vendor), according to the chairman of the association in Mararaba, Alhaji Ado Shuaibu, makes an average of N6,000 a day, especially during dry seasons. Ado said sales figures usually drops during the rainy season and that in some instances, a water vendor may not sell even a jerry can of water a day.
He said in the dry season, sales are high and they normally give priority to customers who patronise them during the rainy season.
"During this bad market season, our good customers give us money and food. When water is scarce, we have to drop some jerry cans of water for them before other customers are considered," Alhaji Ado said.
In Lugbe, the chairman of the water vendors, who craved anonymity, told Leadership Sunday that a truck of water, which has 12 jerry cans, now sells for N250 to N300 instead of the N200 that it is normally sold. This, he said, is because of lack of electricity supply in the area.
The Mai ruwa also increased the price of a jerry can from N10/N15 to N25/N30. They attributed the hike to bad roads. They said they go through rigors before reaching a particular residence and that affects the price: "Even when we are supposed to fetch water free, borehole owners sell it to us for N10 to N15 per jerry can and so in turn, we have to add our own profit."
According to the chairman, the business is quite lucrative but people see them as mere water vendors who get nothing from what they do. "We have families like every other person and earn a living as well . There are no job offers for us," he said.
Also commenting on their activities at Nyanya, Kabiru Maitashi told Leadership Sunday that some residents have adopted new strategies to win the sympathy of members of their association by buying them cell phones.
"Some of these customers who bought handsets for our members usually call us in the morning to deliver some jerry cans at their doorsteps. You know for somebody who bought you a handset, you cannot afford to say no to him because there is a moral burden there."
Jiduana Yanaug, a resident of Nyanya and a father of six, said he had to buy a water wheelbarrow for one of the vendors to cement his relationship with the vendor to overcome the water scarcity problem.
"I bought a water truck for the vendor to ensure that I have a daily supply at my beck and call. Before now, it has not been easy because water is essential for our everyday life. One can't do without water and, as such, one must do all one can to cement the relationship with the vendors for daily supply. In some instance, I will pay for the water in advance but due to high demand, the vendors would end up not showing up until maybe the next day. On the average, I use close to ten jerry cans of water in a day due to the large size of my family," he added.
On how they (vendors) survive during the rainy season when their services are not in high demand, Kabiru Maitashi said they normally take to farming and other jobs to keep life moving while they patiently wait for the dry season.
A survey by Leadership Sunday revealed that a twenty-five litre of jerry can that sells for between N10 and N15 in the rainy season now sells for between N25 and N30, depending on the location of one's house.
Kabiru said his members are not to blame for the adjustment in the prices of the commodity, rather the owners of boreholes should be held responsible for the hike.
When contacted, the chairman of boreholes owners association, Mararaba, Mr. Austin Erick, placed the blame on the hike to lack of power supply.
"Due to lack of power supply, we use diesel to pump water to the surface tank. You know how costly diesel is now in the market. To meet the cost of production, we have to increase the price. If it is not because we have an association, with the current cost of production, a jerry can should be selling for N50 and above, but the executive members of our association have always prevailed on us not to do so. They will always remind us that we owe the society some social responsibilities."
In Mararaba, some community leaders have taken steps to check the water scarcity by drilling more boreholes that sell water at subsidised rates to residents.
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