ONYINYE'S MIRROR ON LIFE

Onyinye OyedeleMonday, May 14, 2012



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WATER ....COLOURLESS, ODOURLESS AND TASTELESS

ater is a universal basic resource. Just imagine how much water you use in a day! From your morning personal care to your breakfast and other cooking.... For cleaning, washing the dishes, laundry and so much more. When the water bill comes, spend a few minutes checking your consumption and why the bill is high! Maybe rationing might come to mind. Water is important for daily health and sanitation, but we don’t use any type or source of water for our daily needs especially drinking water, because this natural resource must be treated appropriately. This treatment normally should be controlled, managed and distributed by a central system for health and safety reasons. However, this is not always the case so individuals and companies have splashed into the water market! Drinking water business is flowing like a fountain in the country. But why is it difficult to get constant supply of colourless, odourless, and tasteless drinking water?



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Recently, the United Kingdom banned the use of drinking water for watering of lush and green lawns as a result of drought in some parts of the country. Meanwhile, a recent research said that Africa has a large reserve of water underground. “New research funded by UK aid has uncovered huge stores of groundwater in Africa – a vital resource that could give millions of people across the continent access to safe drinking water. Across Africa over 300 million people don't have access to safe drinking water. But today's findings show the volume of water available underground is 100 times the amount found on the surface – water which could be tapped to meet the need. (Department for International Development, DFID). So is water now the “Goldmine” for Africa? The rate at which private water ventures are springing in the nation, one hopes that they would be tightly regulated to ensure the health and safety of the citizens.

Sinking of boreholes and installation of water purification plants is now “fashionable” in our country. It is the new household accessory. Apart from that, all kinds of water companies now produce “mega bottles” of water to meet your drinking water needs. So it is no longer “pure water” as usual. Water packaging has gone beyond water in a small sachet. The search and struggle for clean drinking water to a certain extent is being met by “water entrepreneurs”! Special delivery tankers, bottled water of all shapes, sizes, and wonderful names are on sale everywhere. Water filters and dispensers are the new “standing” artefacts in most homes, offices and schools. It dispenses both cold and hot water as “electricity” permits! So paying for clean drinking water is a health and safety precaution!

When the public taps are “screeching,” then the people have to turn to alternatives at huge expenses. The process of providing safe drinking water is now a booming business in Nigeria. Some homes look like a brewery with their water filtration factory! Another recent research sited that, “for many African countries appropriately sited and constructed boreholes will be able to sustain community hand pumps and for most of the populated areas of Africa, groundwater levels are likely to be sufficiently shallow to be accessed using hand pumps” (Cleophas Tsokodayi). So if the authorities responsible for providing safe drinking water neglect their responsibilities, they empower the public to dig up the ground and constitute “future environmental challenges” as debated by some. The search is still on for the “Perfect Water” in Africa.......colourless, odourless, and tasteless!

The African Continent is blessed with abundant resources; Gold, Diamond, Limestone, Petroleum, Uranium, etc. Now we have discovered a huge reserve of a very “cheap” natural resource.... Water. This is still by far the easiest and fastest to purify compared to other “expensive” resources with complex refining processes. We have water in Africa, more abundant than we could ever think or imagine....so let the taps flow!

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FETCHING WATER

We gathered at the public tap
Chatting, laughing, and playing
Lifting buckets of water,
Water balanced on your “oshuka”
At the tap friendships blossomed.

When the taps screeched
We swarm to a well like bees
When one was slammed,
We buzzed to another
Sometimes we begged to fetch water-
Water to wash and clean
We waited and waited
Then the “water news” gushed...

Fetching water brought out kind hearts
We watered friendships
Laughter poured from our lips...
Joy trickled into homes!

(An Extract from PRECIOUS...A collection of Poems, Second Edition, 2011)

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