The only existing health facility in the area is dilapidated and offers no reliable access to treatment.

Despite the allocation of over ₦42.3 billion to water projects in Abuja between 2023 and 2025, more than 5,000 residents of Gomani Bassa, a community in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), rely on a single, often faulty hand pump borehole for their water needs.

According to data from civic technology platform Monitng, the borehole—poorly maintained and frequently breaking down—is the sole water source for the community.

Every day, women and children line up for hours to fetch a few gallons of untreated water, which they attempt to purify using aluminium chloride.

“Sometimes the machine stops working,” MonITNG quoted a resident as saying, “and it becomes very difficult to get even 10 gallons of water for our family’s daily needs.”

According to the group, the state of healthcare is even more worrying. In the event of a waterborne disease outbreak, there is no functional hospital to attend to residents. 

The only existing health facility in the area is dilapidated and offers no reliable access to treatment.

MonITNG described the situation as a damning indictment of infrastructure priorities in the FCT. Despite the 2023 water project allocation of ₦10.6 billion, a rise to ₦14.5 billion in 2024, and a projected ₦17.2 billion for 2025, remote communities like Gomani Bassa remain neglected.

“We acknowledge the recent move by the FCT Minister Wike to China to seek support for a large-scale water project. While international partnerships are important, urgent attention must be given to vulnerable communities within Abuja that are still lacking the most basic amenities,” the civic watchdog said.

The group added in a direct appeal: “Dear FCT Minister Nyesom Wike & FCT Senator Ireti Kingibe… We call on Wike and Sen Kingibe to act now. The people of Gomani Bassa and many other rural communities cannot continue to suffer in silence. They deserve access to clean water, functional health facilities, and the dignity that comes with both.”

It noted that the residents of Gomani Bassa are demanding immediate intervention, warning that continued neglect directly threatens their health, dignity, and survival.