Having to ration water is very challenging. As a kid, my sister and I shared a 4-liter bucket of water to bath on the bad days. And yes, it was always enough- we just employed a trick my mama showed us and everything worked out just fine. I also remember we recycled all bathwater and laundry for flushing (In Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda described a similar situation that shocked poor Kambili when she visited Aunty Ifeoma in Nsukka). I lived most of my early years in Festac town Lagos and although our house had modern plumbing, during the years we lived in 7th Avenue, the taps never flowed-not even once. I remember asking my mum why and she told the rumored story of how Lateef Jankande cut off the water supply to Festac because residents did not give him enough votes during the election that brought him to power. So, my childhood water memories are of my parents putting kegs into the car, driving sometimes as far as Ojo to get water and carrying 50 litres and 25 litres of water up the stairs to fill our water drums. We had it easier though; some other people didn’t have cars so they had to walk the distance my parents drove with the water on their heads.
Around the time I turned six, we had a major turn around. Finally, we had enough money to dig our own water well. My mum still tells the story of how this came to be and I have some vague memory of the guys who did the job. This wasn’t exactly good news for me on all fronts as it meant that by the time I turned seven, one of my chores included fetching water from the well and filling up the water tanks upstairs. I usually carried a bucket my size. By the time I turned eight, I could actually draw water from the well myself. I also recall that part of my water chores included filtering the already boiled well water through a clean white cloth to make our drinking water.
Moving to Abuja many years later, I think one of the reasons we (the kids) convinced my mum to make a permanent move and join my dad was water. I mean you just had to turn on the tap, fetch water in a cup and drink. No filtering, no fetching from the well, no climbing stairs with buckets of water to fill drums- No hassles! Till today, the water board still announces any disruptions to the water supply on the radio (at least in the part of town I live) and even then it never lasts up to a week. For many years, the Abuja water life was my reality until university came calling.
To be continued…