Inside Niger State communities where poor water availability exposes women to diseases, deaths
By Aminu Abubakar
In Niger State, particularly in rural areas, women face significant risks due to inadequate access to clean water. This pervasive issue not only endangers their lives but also complicates healthcare outcomes for both women and children.
Aminu Abubakar reports on the devastating impact of poor water availability and healthcare infrastructure in Agaie and Lapai Local Government Areas, with women and children bearing the brunt of the crisis.
Umar Angulu remembers the day his wife Bilikisu died vividly. Cholera had swept through Mawogi, a small village in Lapai local government area (LGA), Niger State, claiming several lives in 2023. Bilikisu’s death was a painful end to days of relentless vomiting and dehydration. Despite rushing her to Lapai Primary Health Centre (PHC), where she received several drips, her condition only worsened.
“We rely on a brownish water that flows from under a bridge in Mawogi for everything,” Angulu said, his voice filled with grief.
Umar Angulu
“We use it when the cows haven’t yet visited the site, but it’s the only source we have because there’s no clean water, and no boreholes. Maybe that’s where the disease came from, but we all thought she would survive. It’s very painful. The clinic tried their best, but they also struggled with water. The water she used to take her drugs and clean up was as bad as what we have at home. It was full of brownish impurities.”
Essangi community in Agaie LGA, Niger State, mirrors the same distressing conditions. Pregnant women in the community face the harrowing reality with no access to clean water including during childbirth. Abdullahi Shehu, a community leader, describes the severe challenges faced by women during this critical period.
“Because we lack water, our women suffer most of the time,” Shehu said.
The water source relied on by Mawogi residents
“There are several instances where women who had just given birth couldn’t get clean water to clean up. To access good water during delivery, we have to travel over 40 minutes to a health centre. This is because we lack a functional health facility. The distance from our local government area to Lapai is about 28.3 km. Often, we end up relying on traditional births, using the same water that even cows drink.”
These are not isolated incidents. Findings by SolaceBase have shown that across Niger State, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas, the absence of clean water is a pervasive issue that endangers the lives of women and children, while also complicating healthcare outcomes. Without access to safe water, even basic healthcare services become fraught with risk, leading to tragic outcomes like those faced by Angulu and Shehu communities.
Poor access to clean water silently kills women, children
In Agaie LGA, the harsh reality of life without clean water is all too evident. Essangi, a remote farming community in the area, not only suffers from neglected roads but also faces a critical lack of basic facilities, particularly access to clean water.
Upon entering the village, this reporter was struck by the sight of a brownish, stagnant water source initially thought to be rainwater but said to be the water source residents rely on for their daily needs. The consequences of relying on such unsafe water are dire, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable including women and children.
Alternative water sources relied on by Mawogi community residents
In Essangi, many women dread childbirth, not because of the natural pains of labor, but due to the absence of safe and hygienic delivery conditions. The community, with over 1,000 residents, relies on just two wells, which often dry up during prolonged period of low rainfall. This lack of water forces many women to seek help from traditional birth attendants, who, oftentimes rely on contaminated water during deliveries.
“When women here are pregnant, they often can’t reach healthcare facilities in town because of the distance,” one resident explained, highlighting their isolation.
Some members of Mawogi community
“The nearest functional health facility is about an hour away by motorbike, and the dangerous roads make the journey even more difficult. As a result, many pregnant women have no choice but to give birth at home, putting their lives at greater risk.”
A Community leader Shehu expressed the deep-seated frustration among residents: “We know our situation is worrisome, but our women have resigned to fate and this is not good. It is a bad feeling to really feel helpless. The government promised us a health centre, but they started and abandoned the idea. They didn’t pay attention to it anymore.”
At the Lapai PHC, an overhead tank intended to provide water sat idle during this reporter’s visit. The water was not being used to attend to patients, although an official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authorization, admitted that the overhead tank was barely functional. This claim was corroborated by cholera victims from Mawogi, who reported that the absence of water at the health centre worsened their conditions.
Lapai Primary Health Centre
Overhead Tank at Lapai Primary Health Centre
Umaru Salah, who lost his son to cholera five years ago, shared his heartbreaking story. “My son fell ill due to cholera, and despite all our efforts to save him, he died. Life has been difficult since then. We face so much in our community and are tired of the situation,” Salah recounted, nearly in tears.
Salah himself contracted cholera last year, receiving several drips and drugs at a hospital in Lambatta, in Gurara LGA, where he was rushed for treatment.
Umaru Salah
Residents also shared the story of another woman who died from cholera in the community, forcing her family to leave the area after the tragedy. “The family lost a woman to cholera. We did all we could when she fell ill, but she didn’t survive. After that, they left the community,” community sources familiar about the issue told our reporter.
Why women are turning to Traditional Birth Attendants in Niger communities
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), TBAs are those who assist mothers and initially acquire birth skills by delivering babies on their own learning from other traditional birth attendants. These individuals are not formally trained in medical schools but rather gain experience through practice and cultural knowledge.
Nigeria faces a staggering maternal mortality rate of 576 per 100,000 live births, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). This is one of the highest in the world, and each year, 262,000 children die at birth, with many of these deaths linked to the lack of skilled birth attendants. The International Committee for the Red Cross places the figure even higher, at 800 per 100,000 across Nigeria.
In Niger State, the situation is even more staggering. Maternal Figures, a website dedicated to maternal issues, estimates the maternal mortality rate in Niger at 1463 per every 100,000 live birth births.
With non-functional health centers, women are left with few viable options for safe childbirth. An elderly woman in Essangi, who simply identified herself as Zainab, explained that in the absence of a working health facility, experienced older women assist younger mothers during childbirth.
“The health centre is far from here and expensive. Hiring a taxi or taking a motorbike is unaffordable for many residents,” she told SolaceBase.
Another woman, Esther James, added that the absence of a functional health facilities in the community is compounded by bad roads and the long distance to town.
“We rely on our own methods of delivery because the roads to health centres in town are very bad. During the dry season, the dust can even complicate situations for pregnant women,” she said.
Her concerns are valid, as this reporter experienced torrents of dust on the journey, resulting in severe sneezing and catarrh.
Budgetary failures aggravating the crisis
The state’s financial commitment to healthcare and the water sector is a clear indicator of why these critical areas are in such poor condition. No one is spared, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ Multidimensional Poverty Index, 50 percent of households in Niger State are deprived of access to clean drinking water, further illustrating the severity of the water crisis in the state.
A closer examination of the 2023 budget reveals that while Niger State allocated N8.17bn to the Ministry of Water Resources, only N1.27bn was actually utilized, reflecting a mere 12.5 percent budget performance. Of this, the ministry itself spent just N761.47m, with agencies under the ministry such as Niger Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency and the Niger State Small Town Water Supply and Sanitation Agency expending N168.17m and N38.9m respectively.
Read Also:SolaceBase Data: Poor budget performance dims Kano residents hope of better water provision
In contrast, the state’s health ministry utilized N11bn of its N28bn budgetary allocation, achieving a 39.2 percent budget performance. Although still far from adequate but significantly better than the water ministry’s performance.
In 2024, the outlook is not different. The second-quarter budget performance report indicate that, despite a capital expenditure budget of N4.4bn for the water ministry, only N125m was spent in the first six months of the year. The Niger State Small Town Water Supply and Sanitation Agency recorded zero budget performance for capital expenditure, despite having an N80m budgetary allocation. Similarly, the Rural Water and Sanitation Agency, with a capital budget allocation of N945.8m, reported it had not carried out any capital project by the mid-year mark.
This pattern of underperformance also extends to the Ministry of Primary Healthcare. Despite having a capital budgetary allocation of N13.158 billion for 2024, the ministry had not utilized any of it by the end of June.
Experts react
A social accountability campaigner and Executive Director of UrbanAlert, Anthony Adejuwon, told SolaceBase that women are more likely to be victims of the water crisis.
“Because women use water more, for household chores and personal care, it is possible they suffer more from water-borne diseases,” Adejuwon said. “The African tradition has saddled women with the responsibility of doing nearly all the domestic work at home. Their frequent contact with water may expose them to waterborne diseases if the water available to them is not clean.”
Adejuwon further emphasized that, “The state government must ensure the provision of clean water. Meanwhile, the provision of clean water alone cannot address water-borne diseases without efficient sanitation.”
He also called for a coordinated effort among all levels of government and stakeholders: “The federal, state, and local governments must develop sustainable policies and implement impactful projects to safeguard against waterborne diseases. They must partner with civil society organizations, the private sector, and community leaders to sensitize women on how to avoid waterborne diseases and protect their lives and that of their families.”
Yemisi Awe, an environmentalist and water expert, also weighed in, noting that women are at greater risk of disease due to poor water access. “Unclean water affects everyone, but women are more likely to be impacted because of their frequent use of it for various purposes,” she said. Awe highlighted that women are particularly vulnerable to diseases such as cholera, which can lead to severe health complications or even death.
Niger state government react
Reacting to findings in this report, Commissioner for Information, Hajia Binta Mamman, acknowledged the challenges faced in terms of access to water in the state. She stressed that the government is actively working on addressing these issues, particularly in rural communities.
“We are aware of the difficulties faced by our people, particularly women, due to lack of access to clean water,” she said.
“The government is committed to resolving these challenges and is working on several projects to ensure that clean water is available to all residents. The Ministry of Water Resources and Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPADEC), are working hand in hand to resolve this issue of poor water availability. As of now, there are rehabilitation of water works in Minna. Lapai and Agaie local governments are also earmarked to benefit from the water interventions carried out by the government.”
Speaking further: “We are launching a solar-powered water infrastructure and this will further help to tackle the challenge faced in access to water. Some of the existent facilities are also being repaired and this will all culminate into ensuring that the challenge of water faced are tackled head-on”
However, given the antecedents of previous Niger State governments, which have a history of unfulfilled promises regarding water provision, many residents especially those in rural areas remain sceptical about future improvements. Despite this scepticism, the commissioner reassured that these promises are not empty and affirmed that the government is fully committed to resolving all issues without shifting its responsibilities.
This SolaceBase report is produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusion, and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
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