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A hydrogeology and mining consultancy firm, Geo-Inn Services Limited, Wednesday, unveiled a free groundwater exploration scheme for communities across the Enugu North Senatorial Zone of Enugu State.
The zone comprises six local government areas of Udenu, Nsukka, Igbo-Eze South, Igbo-Eze North, Uzo-Uwani, and Igbo-Etiti, with over 120 communities.
The company’s Managing Director, Dr Onyebuchi Ezeugwu, told newsmen that the initiative is meant to ease the water-related hardship faced by people in the zone. He commended governments at all levels for their efforts to make water available to residents, adding that “our intervention is complementary to government and community efforts”.
Ezeugwu, a consultant environmental hydrogeologist, said he was motivated by his experiences growing up in the zone. “Over the years, the people of Enugu North have been facing a lot of water challenges,” he said. “I remember my days at Saint John Seminary, Nsukka, when we faced many water challenges. We used to drink rainwater collected from zinc roofs. After my one-year apostolic work at Iheaka, I decided to study geology at the university. I have always had a passion to serve my people, especially when it concerns water.”
He added that, while studying geology, he saw many failed boreholes in the zone, which spurred him to study up to doctorate level with specialisation in groundwater.
“I am a consultant in environmental hydrogeology,” he explained. “‘Environmental’ here covers the health implications of water, in addition to everything about groundwater itself.”
He recalled an interview he granted THE WHISTLER in which he said that some health problems, such as liver and kidney ailments, could be linked to contaminated water. “Though I leave the medical side of water contamination to health experts because there is a division of labour, but the truth is that there are microorganisms and chemical contaminants that could get into the water and harm human organs,” he said.
Ezeugwu stressed that the scheme, with Enugu North as the pilot, is purely a corporate social responsibility project and not a money-making venture. “We shall enter the field as communities enrol, explore, and then prepare comprehensive reports and submit them to the community leaders,” he said. “They can then engage drillers of their choice to extract the water. Our priority is to explore, so as to minimise the challenges associated with unprofessional borehole development.”
He explained that exploration is just a process of checking where water can be exploited while exploitation is to extract. He acknowledged that exploring ground water in every community of the zone is a huge task but said it is achievable.
In his words, “We may not have the capacity to carry out this project across all the communities at once, but we shall do as much as our resources can carry us. We want to carry it out annually. We are just starting. We plan to locate at least two places with the highest potential for abundant water that are least likely to dry up in every community.”
He stated that the company is not targeting individuals because that would defeat the purpose of corporate social responsibility. “We are instead reaching out to community leaders such as traditional rulers and presidents general, and to churches and other agencies, to help communities key into the scheme. We can only carry out this project with the approval of community stakeholders.
“We have an advanced digital ADMT system, which is among the most developed high-tech tools in water exploration, so the task is within our capacity.”
On the zone’s geology, Ezeugwu was optimistic. “The whole of Enugu North Senatorial Zone has good groundwater potential. It is just a matter of how deep you have to drill. What dominates this area is the Ajali Sandstone, except some areas around Uzo-Uwani, where boreholes need to be drilled deeper.”
He added that the aim is for philanthropists and well-to-do individuals, local government chairmen and the state government to use the exploration results to drill successful boreholes for residents.
He also appealed for support from community leaders, especially with logistics, and for security to ensure a smooth exploration. “We need security. It is a major reason we are interfacing with traditional rulers before we start the scheme. They can help us by providing security and guides.”
It was gathered that the scheme, which will run for three weeks, will be launched on Thursday, 5th November at the company’s head office in Nsukka.
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