Akwaowo “Mayor” Otu  is a documentary photographer from Nigeria, who holds a degree in Biochemistry, but has pursued photography to great heights, even publishing a book on street photography. His intimate documentation of the lives of waterless people living in Ruga Katampe, a community mostly made of nomads in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, went viral after he posted the pictures on his Instagram account. The community needed N500,000 (about $1300) to get a borehole for clean drinking water.  

Mayor’s series, which he called “Water of Katampe” was acknowledged by Water Aid; he tells Ruona Meyer that the renowned international agency said it was unable to help the people of Katampe because they had exhausted their funding.   Undeterred, Mayor tweeted at a Nigerian bank. 

The results were swift, and unexpected.