Water in Ado!
Kaneng Ja and Roberto Lopez

The Honorable Minister of Water Resources, Alh. Muktar Shagari commissioning
the new water in Ado, Karu Local Government of Nasarawa State.

Access to reliable sources of fresh water has defined human history. Our ancient civilizations were built on the banks of the world’s great rivers, and the ability to control the river’s flow for the benefit of its citizens, livestock, and agriculture, was oftentimes the hallmark of advanced societies. To the members of these ancient civilizations, water was life.

After all, the human body is approximately 80% water, and we can survive only 3 days without it. Those without access to fresh water must spend an inordinate part of their day addressing this basic need. In most developing societies for instance, women wake up as early as 5:00 a.m in company of their children to search for this essential commodity, thus, making the children go to school late or not at all. The need for potable water cannot be overemphasized because even from a religious perspective the Muslim needs water for ablution before prayers and the Christian needs to have a bath before going to Church!

Today, there are still millions of people across the globe without reliable access to fresh water, and even in the proximity of the FCT of Nigeria, many residents still struggle to meet the basic need for water.

However, progress was made on January 23, 2004 in Ado, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa state. This was facilitated by Academic Associates PeaceWorks who has been working in Karu for two years now. Initial funding for AAPW’s project in Karu came from GTZ, while the Nasarawa State Government sponsored the second phase.

Academic Associates PeaceWorks had conducted conflict management workshops for 8 communities in the Local Government and set up Peace and Development Committees. An evaluation of social services and employment opportunities was also conducted by Kaneng Ja, Peace and Development Officer and Simon Iya, Community Development Officer of Karu Local Government Council in each of these communities and donors were approached for funding.

For Ado community, water was a priority and from the database of donors compiled by AAPW, the German Embassy, Abuja was identified as a potential donor. A proposal was sent to the German Embassy and approval was given for 5 hand dug wells with hand pumps.

The Director of Academic Associates PeaceWorks Dr. Judith Burdin Asuni and several staff members visited the Honourable Minister of Water Resources, Alh. Muktari Shagari, some time in October, 2003 during which they told him about the grant by the German Embassy to do the wells at Ado. He was very enthusiastic about AAPW’s role in mobilizing communities in Karu and expressed a desire to enter into partnership with the organization. He also promised the Peace and Development Committee, Ado 5 free pumps.

Having received free hand pumps from the Ministry of Water Resources, The Peace and Development Committee, Ado decided to use the money that was saved from the donation of the hand pumps to resuscitate two existing wells in the community. The Federal Ministry of Water Resources gave 2 additional hand pumps for the wells making a total of 7 wells.
Management committees were established in all the settlements where these wells are located. UNICEF has promised to do facilitate training on water and sanitation, while the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has made a commitment to give technical training for these committees.

The wells were completed and commissioned on Friday January 23, 2004 by the Honourable Minister of Water Resources Alh. Muktari Shagari. The commissioning ceremony was attended by other distinguished luminaries such as Mrs. Angelika Saake of the German Embassy; Engr. M.K. Abubakar, Director, Water Supply and Quality control (FMWR) and his deputy, Mr. Aletun; Dr. Judith Burdin Asuni, Executive Director of AAPW; HRH Esu Karu, Dr. Bulus Chetubo; the Transition Chairman of Karu Local Government, Mr.Elisha Dachor and all his councilors. A number of press men turned up for this occasion and it hit the headlines of the NTA, AIT, FRCN network news that evening and for 3 days!

The project has not always been easy, as it has brought together a number of groups:
• The local PDC, which itself includes members from about 8 different ethnic
groups and educational levels from engineer to illiterate
• The Central PDC of Karu Local Government
• The traditional rulers in Ado
• The German Embassy
• The Federal Ministry of Water Resources
• Water Aid, an international NGO
• UNICEF

The impetus from the communities themselves to undertake development activities increases the resources of the communities, thus reducing the chance of conflict. These activities also bring together people from diverse ethnic, religious, and economic groups, thus building a solid foundation for peaceful co-existence.

However, helping these diverse groups work together has been a learning experience in itself, and is a good example of how local groups, foreign donors and government can partner together.

Proposals have been submitted to a number of embassies for other communities in Karu and as we wrote in the last newsletter, all you can see on the faces of people in Karu is that “we are getting there!”