Global perspective Human stories

FROM THE FIELD: Sunny days power a better life for displaced Nigerians

A solar-powered borehole provides water to more than 6,000 residents in a camp for displaced people in Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria.
IOM/Sascha Pimentel
A solar-powered borehole provides water to more than 6,000 residents in a camp for displaced people in Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria.

FROM THE FIELD: Sunny days power a better life for displaced Nigerians

Economic Development

Water boreholes powered by solar energy are helping to improve life for Nigerians displaced by conflict, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). 

Thirty-five-year old Sainna maintains waterpoints in Gubio camp in Maiduguri.
Thirty-five-year old Sainna maintains waterpoints in Gubio camp in Maiduguri. , by IOM/Sascha Pimentel

Around two million people in the north-east of the West African country  have fled their homes due to recurrent attacks by armed insurgent groups; some of them live in 63 sites which are supported by humanitarian organizations in the town of Maiduguri.

One of the displaced Nigerians is 35-year-old Sainna who was a farmer before he fled into Cameroon after his village, Gamboru, was attacked.  

Now living in Gubio camp in Maiduguri, he has been given the responsibility of maintaining water infrastructure and the solar panels which power it.

Read more here about how sunny power-generating days are helping the most vulnerable Nigerians.