By Precious Oham
People of Aseyori community in Ado Ekiti, will soon heave a sigh of relief, as Ekiti State Government has promised to attend to the problem of flooding affecting them through the Ureje river.
Accordion to the Project Coordinator of the National Erosion and Watershed Management Project, Ekiti NEWMAP Dr Akinyemi Akinyugha, all water channels leading to the Ureje River will be dredged very soon, so as to give room for free flow of water, thus preventing flooding.
Dr. Akinyugha who spoke during an assessment of the area and the damages done by the flood sympathized with victims particularly the fish farmer, Dr. Ebenezer Temitope Adebayo whose farm was affected.
Dr Akinyemi Akinyugha said: “The development objective of Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) is to reduce vulnerability to soil erosion in targeted sub-catchments.
“NEWMAP in Ekiti State is a collaboration between the State Government, Federal Government and the World Bank to address the menace of gully erosion on a multi-dimensional scale.
“The Ureje channel is particularly strategic as most of the other rivers within Ado, and even Igede, flows into it.
” When there is very heavy rainfall within a short period, stormwater can inundate the channel, causing significant deluge and spill over into the surrounding communities just like we witnessed recently.
Dr. Akinyugha noted that Ekiti State Government had finalised engineering designs for the concrete channelisation of major channels within Ado including the entire Ureje stretch.
“Recall that Governor Fayemi’s administration has already completed the channelisation of over 3.5km of Aiya River (KajolaTemidire) and 2.2km of Bisi Aloba Adun Ogbon (Osun River) both in Ikere LGA as well as over 4,000km of drainage works in Ipao, Irele and Oke Ako in Ikole LGA.
“In addition, the Project completed other hydraulic structures across the state including Ajolagun Bridge (Ikere), Arinkin Bridge (Oke Ako) and Ogbomu culvert (Irele).
“These projects have direct positive impacts on Ekiti residents and indigenes by saving lives that might have hitherto been lost to flooding and enhancing intra- and inter-state socio-economic activities e.g. free flow of people, goods and services.
“The Project also planted up to 280,000 trees in forest reserves and private woodlots across nine LGAs (Ado, Ikere, Gbonyin, Ise/Orun, Emure, Oye, Ekiti South West, Ekiti West, and Ekiti East), as a way to create micro-climates that can mitigate against climate change and invest in the future of the forest sector.
“The channelisation works in Ado and Efon LGAs are the third phase of NEWMAP in Ekiti State and shall be started as soon as funding is guaranteed from our development partners.
“Just as Governor John Kayode Fayemi promptly provided the counterpart funds required to complete the project, Ekiti NEWMAP has been assured of full support from the in-coming Governor, Biodun Oyebanji. In the meantime, the dredging of the major channels shall commence very soon.
Dr. Akinyugha who affirmed that the problem of flooding could be further compounded by plastics, wastes and other debris carried from town, appealed to citizens to desist from disposing waste into the channels when it rains.
He noted that such practices usually have debilitating effects downstream and could aggravate flooding issues.
Dr. Akinyugha also appealed to citizens to desist from building structures close to river channels.
Speaking on the victims of the disaster, Dr. Akinyugha said the State Emergency Management Agency had been contacted and would visit the site within the week.