The much-celebrated Urban Renewal Projects initiated under former Governor Nasir El-Rufai have come under fire, as a fresh report links the programme to growing water scarcity across parts of Kaduna and Zaria.
An investigation into the current acute scarcity of water in the State point to uncompleted water systems relocation especially in Kaduna and Zaria. Residents are disturbed that 11 major road dualization projects executed between 2019 and 2020 led to the uprooting of standard water transmission pipelines—many of which were replaced with substandard service pipes.
Projects such as the 5.95km Nnamdi Azikiwe–Rigasa link road, the 3.7km Rabah Road–Arewa House dualization, and the 4km Nassarawa–Flour Mill Road in Kaduna South all involved large-scale water pipeline dislocations. These projects prioritized road expansion but neglected critical water infrastructure planning.
In Zaria, the situation is no better. The proposed dualization of Kofar Doka to PZ, Gaskiya Road to Agoro, and the massive 7km Wusasa–Nagoyi–River Galma with a Cloverleaf at Kofar Doka road—handled by contractors like Ronchess and Chamberlain —likewise involved the displacement of major water lines.
Experts warn that the replacement of durable water mains with low-grade service pipes has drastically reduced water flow and pressure to several densely populated districts. What was billed as modernization, critics say, may have in fact worsened urban living conditions.
“The roads were expanded, yes—but the people’s access to water was compromised,” lamented a civil engineer Christoper Dangana, familiar with the projects.
The current administration is now grappling with the ripple effects: incomplete water relocation, decaying substitute pipes, and rising public frustration over erratic water supply.
Kaduna’s Urban Renewal initiated and implemented by former governor Nasir Ahmad Elrufai came with a huge price—one the residents are now paying in buckets.
Some residents are, however, hopeful that the worrisome situation would be reversed by the injection of N100 billion into revival of the water sector by the current administration of Governor Uba Sani, for which work has gone quite far.
