Housewives, mothers, fathers, grandmothers and a couple of young people. They sat under a mango tree listening with rapt attention. It was a hot afternoon, but they ignored the scorching sun as they learnt a few things at the feet of Teju Krakue. You could almost think it was a business meeting or a thrift society but you are wrong. This is the effort of a woman who wants to make a change in her society.

The retiree took them through her experiences in the hands of bad water and why she does not want them to be victims. “Three quarters of the pipes laid are already corroded. Unfortunately they are not changing it. According to medical opinion, water forms 3/4 of the body fluid. If that is the case, we need to drink pure water and not poor water. Many poor water have been coined pure and this is the reason why many people are sick today”.

You want to know more about this woman but all Krakue says is that she worked in the civil service for 35 years. Instead of talking about herself, Krakue prefers to address the water problem and the effect it has on the citizenry.

“ I drink a lot of water. A carton of Eva usually lasts me for about four days. I drink water mostly because I know it helps my system. But at a point I realized that I was always sick and it was traced to the water I was drinking. I actually shunned fizzy drinks and the likes for more than a decade. I salute the initiative of the zero B manufacturers because they have taken a step in the right direction”.
In April 2004, Krakue came across the Kenwood water purifier in London. “I was introduced to it at a friend’s place and the product was everywhere. In Britain, which is a sophisticated society with government provision of drinkable water, people still purify their water. So when I came back, I brought the water purifier from London. The cartridge is just for duration of one month. But when it finished, I tried to use it but it stopped work exactly on the day it was a month old”, she recalls.

Just while she was getting worried about how to get safe drinking water another friend provided an alternative. “A friend told me about zero B water purifier. So I went in search of the company and they discussed the product and its life span with me. This one would purify 7,500 liters of water and it has a life span of one year.”

Initially, Krakue went there to search for a solution to her personal problem. But along the line, it occurred to her that she could help to save a lot of lives if she intervened in the matter. “ I went there because the one I bought could not function unless I get it abroad. I decided to take it to the people and sensitize people on how to get drinkable water.”

Just before she left the shores of the country, Krakue sold pure water in her shop. “At that point I had a super mart and pure water was one of the products sold. In fact, I started from a mini mart and it grew to become a super mart. Unfortunately, the water that was being produced around my place was not pure. The environment in which they were being produced was not hygienic. The one I saw then was done even in a government quarters in the neighborhood”.

Krakue adds: “ If you have an opportunity to travel abroad, you would be sad with the way people handle a lot of things here. In Britain, if someone dies at 70, it is a great loss. But here, it means nothing to a lot of people.

“If Nigerians find good water to drink in adequate quantities, many people, especially children would stop falling ill. Doctors say we must drink 5 liters of water a day. But the big question is where can we find that? Even those whose taps still run don’t have good drinkable water. Many pipes are corroded and as a result, water from them have become contaminated”.