“We are Aware of the Water Problems” - Porter Seyi

By Sailor

The Deputy Supervisor of Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall, Mr. Seyi, in a comprehensive chat with ZHPO on the 23rd of March, 2023, discussed the awareness of the hall management about the plight of the students in terms of poor water supply and their working behind the scene to tackle this issues for the benefit of the students.

Due to an earlier report by Zik Press on the unfavorable water situation in the hall, the hall management saw the need to put out a response, stating their view on the issue which is a paramount topic in the hall of late. In a long chat with Mr Seyi, he gave an extensive and comprehensive insight on the water supply problem facing the hall and how they have been tackling these issues head on even with the little resources available to them. He had this to say about the situation of things.

Basically we are aware of the fact that there is water problem in the hall and we are not sitting down. Normally, what we do is, before any resumption we normally do some underground checks on the facilities that are meant to be working, out of which water is also a very important part. During this time we discovered that some facilities were not working that has to do with water, like the timers for some pumping machines. Let me start by saying in Zik hall we have about 51 water tanks and 6 boreholes altogether including that of D block.

We have two sources of water one coming from University of Ibadan, UI, (which is not drinkable) and the other coming from the boreholes. The one coming from UI, you and I know is not regular, the one directly under our control is the 6 boreholes; with two not functioning at all, we have tried to consult the artisans in charge, but they tell us the water level is low and when they tried to fix it, it was not coming up. This boreholes are behind Paulo’s shop (JCR building). There is another one outside the fence, that one has a good yield of water, but the problem is wire, which got spoilt in the course of the holiday, probably due to none usage of the boreholes.

The two beside Paulo’s shop like I said earlier, the water level was low and the submersible pump inside the boreholes were faulty. Immediately we wrote the university management that we need more pumping machines and timers; used for regulating the timing of the pump so that it will last. So the three boreholes, the two behind Paulo and the one outside of the building are not working due to issues raised earlier.

These are issues which are beyond what the hall can regulate, that is why we wrote to the school management, we went as far as writing to the vice chancellor, Director of works and maintenance, we wrote through the Dean to the Deputy Vice chancellor Administration, and they promised that they will provide these facilities such as the pumping machines and the wires, up until when you started your exams we didn’t receive any and we followed up for sometimes and they promise we will get it when they have it and that was why we couldn’t fix it at the time.

Now coming back to the three other boreholes; you know I said we have six boreholes, the one outside the fence that is close to brother Kola’s lodge, beside Mummy Yinka’s shop, there is a borehole outside there that is serving Zik hall, it is the one serving the tank behind A block, the 12 tanks, 6 of the tanks is coming from UI while the other 6 is serviced by the borehole, but the water level was low as at the time you were writing your exams last semester, plus the fact that it also had wire problems and the same wire problem was added to the letter we wrote to the management, and since we have not received anything there is nothing we could do.

The one in front of A block that is the one we have been managing for sometime and the one in D block. And sometimes when the pressure is much, it develops fault, so we have to run around to get it fixed and that’s what we have being doing to sustain ourselves. Plus the fact that there was no light, Oyo state sent a circular that there won’t be light for at least forty-something days or there about. So we couldn’t help the situation and that is why we get money to buy fuel into generator and you also know that during that time there was fuel scarcity.

Like I said earlier when pressure is much on the pump, in this hall we have more than one thousand students, minus the staff, shop owners, tenants and all of us are depending on the same water and when the pressure is much the things get spoilt or not sufficient for the use of students. We were waiting for the response of the management but we couldn’t get it, the hall executive tried everything within their reach, sometimes we went to the vice chancellor’s office to follow up with the letter. Sometimes they send tankers to bring water for us, at least I am very sure that the hall chair and some other people tried to explain things to the Dean of students, and the only thing they could do then is to send tankers. Often times the tanker requested is to bring petrol in order for them to pump the water and it was D blockites that helped with getting the petrol.

Coming back to what is on ground now, out of the 6 boreholes, at least two are working perfectly for now, the one in front of A block and D block. The third one, the one beside the JCR is not working well because there is a little problem of panel which will be sorted out before next month, we have applied for the money, although it is still manageable we are pumping it, but the problem will be sorted out pretty soon. The other three, if the money comes, because we have calculated it with the money requested. The ones we can sort out we will sort it out, the ones we cannot sort out we will leave it to the school management especially the ones beyond our control.