– Erosion has been a major issue in Anambra state for a while
– Successive governments in the state have failed to address the issue once and for all
– Residents of some communities including former Nigerian Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme are now at the verge of losing their homes
A report by Thisday newspaper indicates that the homes of some residents of Oko community in Orumba North local government area in Anambra state, including the home of the former Nigerian Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme might be lost to erosion.
According to the report, this is due to the pull out of the construction company handling the gully erosion project at Nanka and Oko communities.
ZENITHBLOG.com gathered that, already, large portion of land has been washed away by erosion.
Dr Alex Ekwueme is one of Nigeria’s most celebrated and respected politician
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Also at risk is the ancestral home of the former vice president which has been chopped off by the gully erosion as a result of the rains, and may cave in anytime.
A staff at the construction company, who spoke about the company’s action on the condition of anonymity, said the company was moving out after the completion of the first phase of the job to tame the erosion and has waited for over a year for the commencement of the second phase of the job.
“We completed this project since June last year, and we have even done extra work hoping that the federal government will approve the commencement of the second phase of the job, but from what we gathered, the Anambra state government has written to the federal government asking them to hands off the job as the World Bank was taking over.
“What we have done in this first phase of the job can sustain this project for another 10 years, but the federal government needs to approve palliative works on the project for it to last that long. This is because we all know that the World Bank will not commence work on the site immediately.
“Procurement process
The staff said the period that would be spent for the commencement of the World Bank contract would hamper the work already done on the project if palliative work was not done on it.
He said it would be useless for government to leave the N2billion project to collapse because of lack of palliative that won’t cost much.
His words: “It was specified in the contract paper that the job would come in phases, but we have only done the phase one, and since then, we have waited to be mobilised for the second phase and that is not forth coming, so we have to move our equipment out.”
Former member of the House of Representatives and erstwhile aide of Ekwueme, Chief Handel Okoli, said the decision by the company to leave would does not bode well for the two communities.
His words: “If not for the work the company has done so far, more houses would have collapsed into the gully. Ekwueme has tried his best to reach out to President Muhammadu Buhari on the erosion threat on his home, he has even paid a visit and written several letters, all to no avail.”
“This site you see is the most radical erosion site in Africa, and so many lives have been lost to it already, same for houses. You can see the size of Oko and Nanka communities that has been lost to the gully, and we want to beg the federal government to continue with the second phase instead of handing it to the World Bank.”
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Meanwhile, a Facebook user, Kenechukwu Onwuzo has lamented about the state of roads in Aguata ring road, Nibo in Anambra state.
Onwuzo who took to his page to lament about the state of the road, blamed the Anambra state government for not addressing the issue.
He also described the situation as a “state of emergency.”
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