Four workers—Shayibu Hama, Abdulmalik Yahya, Jamilu Inusa and Ibrahim Musa died inside Bauchi’s Gubi Dam water treatment plant on April 20, 2025. They were cleaning the facility when they died. The headlines blamed "safety lapses," but the real culprit is privatisation. When profit comes first, people die.  

The Bauchi State Urban Water and Sewerage Corporation (BSUWSC) was once fully public. Then the World Bank pushed its "reforms," and Bauchi became a “Selected State.” It received a $250 million in funding, on the condition that it embraced reforms to make its water utility financially “viable” and ready for private partnerships. As documented, this included “corporatisation” of water agencies and pushing performance-based contracts and restructuring plans. What does this mean? Raise tariffs, cut labor costs, and neglect safety.  And workers like Yusuf, Adamu, Hassan, and Musa paid the price. 

There was no harness for them when they were trapped. So their colleagues couldn't help them.

Privatisation Kills  

Across Africa, privatisation schemes—disguised as "Public-Private partnerships (PPPs)," or "concessions, corporatisation or commercialisation," have led to devastating outcomes. In October 2024, three maintenance workers working for a private company lost their lives in Benoni, east of Johannesburg. 

The Gubi Dam deaths are not an isolated case. It is part of a broader pattern. When the drive for profit takes over, workers become disposable. Provision of protective gear and equipment is seen as too expensive. Proper training is considered a "waste" of profits. Casual workers like the father and son—Abdulmalik and Musa, are used to keep labour costs low, one of the key demands of the World Bank-backed reforms and other private equity funding schemes.

When Union Caution is Disregarded

Unions in Nigeria tirelessly resisted the full privatisation of BSUWSC because they knew what it could result to. But the government, backed by World Bank loans, pushed ahead. Now, the corporation operates under a hybrid model—part public, part private. The result? Neglect and death. 

Bauchi’s workers died because the system wanted to spend less. They were denied proper safety equipment because someone calculated the cost and chose profit. This is what austerity looks like in real life.

“It is not the fault of the workers. They were working despite the absence of PPEs. There was no harness for them when they were trapped. So their colleagues couldn't help them. Negligence of safety by these institutions will not be tolerated while our members continue to pay the price”. Comrade Sikiru Waheed, General Secretary, Aupctre remarked.  

Fight Back, Now. 

The death of Yusuf, Adamu, Hassan, and Musa cannot be in vain. 

• Unions in Nigeria must demand a public reveal of the investigations into the Gubi Dam tragedy. Not internal reviews, but full public disclosures.

• Hold the government accountable for the employment conditions of the deceased workers, including the casual workers. 

• Demand the reinstatement of the BSUWSC as a fully state-owned corporation and the conversion of casual workers into permanent staff—that's the only way to immortalise the memories of the deceased. 

• Push for the adoption of Public-Public Partnerships (PUPs), collaborations between public agencies that work. In Uganda, National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) and other municipalities have implemented PUPs with real gains in water access and safety.

• Unions must organize. Take this as a queue to take the fight first and not wait until other workers become victims.

Yusuf, Adamu, Hassan, and Musa should be alive today. Musa should have been happily married to his bride. He was said to be preparing for his wedding Fatiha, scheduled for the second week of May, 2025. Union leaders must mobilise in Bauchi, across Nigeria, and beyond. Fight every PPP and every scheme that puts profits over people no matter the form it may be presented—"corporatisation, commercialisation, concessioning"