By Abdulqadir Muhammad Alhaji
Residents of Marmanji village in Jama’are Local Government Area of Bauchi State have called for urgent government intervention over what they describe as a lack of safe drinking water and other essential public services.
The residents say the village, which is home to more than 5,000 people, continues to face longstanding challenges in access to water, healthcare, education, electricity and roads.
During a visit to the community by our correspondent, residents described the difficulties they face and called on the government and other stakeholders to address what they say are years of neglect.
Musa Sulaiman Marmanji said access to drinking water was one of the community’s biggest challenges.
He said the village relies on a single borehole which, according to him, has been in use for more than 30 years.
During the dry season, he said, residents are often forced to travel to neighbouring villages in search of water, adding to the hardship faced by the community.
Mr Musa appealed to the government and well-meaning individuals to help provide a reliable source of safe drinking water for the people of Marmanji.
Another resident, Muhammad Sulaiman Marmanji, also described the water shortage as severe and called for urgent intervention from the government and relevant authorities.
He also raised concerns about the condition of the village school, saying the building had deteriorated to the point where lessons were sometimes held under trees.
He said classes had to be suspended whenever there was a storm because the pupils could not remain outside safely.
Mr Muhammad further alleged that Marmanji had never been connected to electricity, despite the installation of electricity poles in the area during the administration of former Bauchi State governor Ahmad Adamu Mu’azu.
He said the poles had remained without the expected electricity supply since then.
On road infrastructure, Isa Umar expressed concern about the road linking Jama’are town to Marmanji.
He said the road, which he estimated to be about eight kilometres long, had deteriorated significantly, making movement difficult and, according to him, increasing the risk of accidents.
He appealed to the government to rehabilitate the road and address the community’s water shortage.
Auwal Muhammad Marmanji also identified access to clean water as one of the community’s major concerns, saying the single borehole available to residents was insufficient for the population.
He also raised concerns about the condition of the community’s healthcare facility, which he said was built in 2008.
According to Mr Auwal, the facility lacks adequate healthcare workers, medicines and essential equipment.
He said that on some occasions, only a few volunteer workers were available at the facility, particularly on Thursdays.
Mr Auwal called on the government to deploy more healthcare workers and provide medicines and equipment to enable the facility to serve the community effectively, particularly during medical emergencies at night.
The chairman of Marmanji youth association, Imrana Sulaiman, also appealed to the government and other stakeholders to pay greater attention to the community’s needs, particularly in the areas of water, education and road infrastructure.
He said the youths had come together to promote development in the village and pledged their support to anyone who contributed to improving basic services in Marmanji.
The residents are calling for urgent action to address the challenges, which they say have continued to affect the quality of life in the community.
Leave a Reply