Maikaya Development Foundation Donates Solar-powered Borehole to Community in Toto LGA

By Olu Benjamin

Maikaya Development Foundation, a Non-governmental organization has constructed and donated a solar-powered borehole to Angwan Sarki Muhammad Umar community in Toto local government area of Nasarawa state.

Alhaji Mohammed Maikaya, Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation disclosed this at the commissioning/ donation ceremony in Toto on Thursday.

According to him, the gesture was aimed at alleviating the hardship faced by locals in the community whom according to him have been facing water shortages for years.

“We delivered this project in line with the objectives of the foundation of adding value to lives. We are happy and I know the locals of this community are also happy to start the year with such big news.

“The project is a 6000 litres capacity solar powered borehole with tanks. We are happy we have a sizable volume that will serve this community and much more beyond the community,” he said.

He said aside meeting the foundation’s objectives, the NGO was also carrying out interventions in line with Governor Abdullahi Sule led administration’s objective of reaching out to every part of Nasarawa in terms of impactful interventions.

“The government is doing it’s very best but it cannot do it alone. So the foundation is playing it’s role by supporting the state government and also the local government by assuaging the difficulties faced in Toto,” he said.

He said before selection of the community for the intervention, his foundation made inquiries on where water was most needed and was made to know that Agwan Sarki Muhammad Umar was the right location given the challenges they face in assessing portable water.

“We found out that they lack water and it was one of the major problems they have been facing around here. That was what propelled us to select this community for this project,” he added.

Maikaya who assured the chairman of Toto LGA of more interventions also revealed that the foundation has recently opened it’s portal to give scholarship to indigent students across the state.

“If you recall, few weeks back we enroll about 750 indigenes into the state health insurance scheme. Today to sustain the peaceful coexistence efforts of the government in Toto, we will be playing the finals of our football competition,” he said

In his address, Mr Ahmed Baba-Yahaya, Chairman of Toto LGA expressed gratitude to the foundation for the intervention which he described as a rare but impactful gift to the community.

“For this community that is developing, you can imagine the distance they cover just to source for water. Those energies, time value, stress might lead to health issues.

“So what Maikaya Development Foundation has done cannot be repaid back. The entire Toto and the state is proud to have Alhaji Mohammed Maikaya as a son of the soil and offering impactful interventions to local communities across the state,” he said.

He then vowed to support a bill to the Toto local assembly for medals of honour for those contribute immensely to the development of the area so as to motivate other well meaning indigenes and other Nigerians to help develop the area.

He however warned that the security and sustainability of the project lies on the locals of the community hence the call to them to ensure the borehole is well protected and utilized.

In a remark, Alhaji Mohammed Tanko, Chairman, Kogi State Civil Service Commission and a well wisher praised Maikaya Development Foundation for making the borehole a solar-powered one which according to him reduces the burden on the community while assessing water through it.

“In the olden days, it will be motorized borehole whereby you will be faced with providing generator to power the pumping of the water, responsibility of fuelling it and responsibility of locals of making contributions for the use or repair of the borehole and when you fail to pay, you are not allowed to fetch water.

“I sincerely thank Maikaya Development Foundation for this free access to water borehole without responsibility on the community you are given it to. Once again, I congratulate everyone for this laudable achievement,” he said.

In a vote of thanks, Mallam Abdul Ibrahim, Village Head, Agwan Sarki Muhammad Umar community expressed gratitude for the intervention and promised to everything possible to ensure the borehole is well utilized. END