By Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
The town of Jebba in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State that has no pipe borne water for decades is now enjoying the facility un-interrupted since May 2024.
Jebba was home to the famous Nigerian Paper Mills (NPM), a commercial town by River Niger with the national bridge linking Nigeria’s north-west with south-west but without government pipe borne water.
It was said that the Nigerian Paper Mills had its treated water distributed to their Staff Quarters in the river valley as well as Senior Staff Quarters on a mountain popularly called ‘colony’.
This reticulation arrangement was said to
be skeletally extended to the Jebba town up to the time NPM folded up.
However, Kwara State Government of late embarked on a water project which was completed and commissioned in May 2024 putting an end to the people’s long suffering for good water.
The water works, which has the capacity of producing 200,000 litres of water daily with 150,000 litres supply to the overhead tank which has since then been distributed to fetching points throughout the community.
Mr. Sulaiman Abdulwaheed; the Water Plant Operator while speaking with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) said residents now have access to clean water supply for three to four hours daily.
According to him, the water works which supplies only the Jebba community, sources water from the River Niger, which then undergoes various stages of purification before being supplied to the community.
His words; “We get the water from the River Niger to the pressure house where all sediments are removed, then to the filter where the water becomes 70% clean.
“We are aware that germs can escape from the filter, then it is passed through another tank where chlorine and alum is added and left for 15 to 30 hours before it is released to the overhead tank for community consumption”, he said.
“We pump water for about two to three hours daily now, because the mainline pipe capacity cannot carry the pressure, but with a larger pipeline, residents will be able to enjoy 12 hours water supply daily.
“Then if the government can help us increase the capacity of the overhead tank that supplies the community from 200,000 litres to 300,000 litres, and also provide a stand-by generator, because we usually have electricity challenges.
Also, residents of Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State have expressed excitement over the ongoing rehabilitation of their Water Works which reaches 90 per cent completion.
Site Supervisor, Mr. Tunde Adewale of the project and staff of DELKO International said the rehabilitation, which began in February 2025, has received full support from the state government, adding that all major installations had been completed.
“All the treatment plants are ready, and new pumps and machines have been installed according to the directives of the Kwara State government.
“We have also completed a 1,200-kilometre expansion which will ensure that the project covers about 50 per cent of the community when operational. The only thing left is the installation of a 500KV transformer to finalize the process.”
According to him, the newly installed pumps are capable of pumping 70 litres of water per second, with a delivery capacity reaching 160 meters in head.
Speaking on behalf of the community, the Petu Aran of Omu-Aran, High Chief Lawrence Oladele Ajiboye, expressed satisfaction with the level of work done, describing the project as a major relief for residents who have long endured water scarcity.
“The Omu-Aran Urban Water Supply Project, commissioned in 1979, once served not only our community but also neighbouring towns. Seeing it revived brings great joy to us all,” Ajiboye said.