OAU WATER AND MY CRY: MESSAGE TO GREAT IFE CEC; UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

“Without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living; without the cry, there is no soothing.”

I am not an activist. I am not a human rights advocate. I am just an innocent student being pushed to the wall. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, is my institution of learning and I will do everything within my power to protect her integrity and promote the good image of the institution. It is my duty. It is our collective responsibility. However, it is also our obligation to cry out when things are going wrong and when situations are becoming unbearable. We need to be consoled. They call me The Smiling Man and here is my cry.

Water is known to be a universal basic resource. Daily, we utilise water for one thing or the other. We drink water. We use water for cooking, cleaning, washing, laundry and so much more. Water is important for daily health and sanitation.

Source of water being supplied is a key factor to the overall wellness of an individual. As a student of Great Ife, the major direct source of water supplied runs through water tanks and pipes. Day-to-day, students rely on the water supplied through those channels from OAU Dam in order to carry out various domestic activities such as bathing, cooking, washing, among others. Sadly, some even drink this water.

Although it is not news that the water being supplied from the University dam is devoid of characteristics of purified water, i.e. colourless, odourless and tasteless. It is deplorable that the mechanism employed in supplying water to the various halls of residence keep getting from bad to worse. Unfortunately, the management is just folding their arms and instead, watches as the ‘OAU water’ keeps flowing to various halls of residence and the university community.

Using ETF Hall as a case study. At the commencement of 2016/2017 academic session, the water tanks supplying water to the hall of residence have been in deplorable conditions. The storage tanks are very dirty. Some have no covers. The drain valves are in a state of disrepair. The water inlets are faulty. Consequently, students are left with dirty and noxious water. Equally, the faulty drain valves lead to constant wastage of water which thereby causes occasional scarcity of water supply. Surprisingly, the porter’s lodge is located directly in front of those faulty storage tanks. Members of ETF Hall Executive Council act as onlookers while students’ lives are in danger.

For cooking, residents of the Hall rely on these water reservoirs. Regrettably also, some students with “humble” backgrounds drink cassava flakes with the water supplied from those tanks. And the stakeholders are watching.

In a report of an international workshop jointly organised by WHO and InWEnt (Capacity Building International), Health as a Cross-Cutting Issue in Dialogues on Water for Food and the Environment, a table of the list of health issues associated with lack of (safe) water supply was drawn:

Health IssuesEnvironmental
DeterminantsSocial
Determinants
Truly Water–borne
diseases
Typhoid, shigellosis, cholera,
Hepatitis A, AmoebiasisLack of safe water supply
Lack of proper storage system
Improper handling of water at the level of household
Improper sanitation systemSocioeconomic status
Low health awareness
Behaviour

Water-related Diseases
Malaria, WNV, Filariasis, DengueImproper irrigation
Storage system
Improper SewerageImproper housing
Sleeping behaviour
Social status
Water-based diseases
Schistosomiasis, DrancunculiasisLack of safe water supply
Lack of proper storage system
Improper sanitation systemSocial status
Water-washed Diseases
Skin Diseases, TrachomaShortage of water supplyCrowding
Hygiene behaviour

Clearly, our lives are in danger.

MESSAGE TO THE GREAT IFE CEC

“To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” – Louis L’Amour

I voted.

As much as I respect the OAU Students’ Union; being our leaders, it is quite unfortunate that the vibrant Central Executive Council has turned into a departmental executive council. Issues affecting the welfare of Great Ife Students are being addressed on WhatsApp pages. No more megaphone announcements. No more deliberations. No more congress.

A Students’ Union is meant to be a pressure group that is meant to consistently keep the school management on their toes. Being a pressure group does not mean we have to be aggressive and rude thereby leading to school closure. We can simply be diplomatic and open to consultations, though adamant. It is our lives, and remember health is wealth.

Accordingly, I urge Great Ife CEC to put their house in order and lend our voice to the OAU management. You are our leaders and through our votes, we entrust, to a reasonable extent, our wellbeing on this campus in your hands. You wanted it and we gave it to you. Wake up and live up to the task.

MESSAGE TO THE UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Thousands of Great Ife Students have been severely affected by the poor condition of OAU water. I have spent more than four years on Great Ife Campus and I have witnessed students being rushed to the University’s health centre based on the poor condition of OAU water. Students are really suffering and their health is in jeopardy.

We are admitted into OAU to study one course or the other. However, the cost of living extremely transcends the cost of learning: overcrowding is a characteristic in various Halls of Residence; bed bugs are our closest pals; classrooms meant for 300 students are being allocated to 1,000 students; parents’ salaries are being withheld; yet, we are still being supplied with unhygienic water; among others. To make matters worse, the corporate world is demanding for a first class graduate. It is simply unfair!

I can’t just continue this article. The pain is just too much. However, I will close with this: water is colourless, odourless and tasteless; we use OAU water for bathing, cooking, and regrettably, some students even drink it . . . SAVE US!

OLABODE Oladapo Samuel
Faculty of Law,
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.