•We’ll fix problem soon, govt assures
From Emmanuel Uzor, Abakaliki
Obinagu-Ishiagu, a village in Ishiagu, Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State is in a mournful state. The community has been forgotten and neglected by successive administrations in the state.
Ishiagu, a very richly endowed community, shares borders with Uturu in Abia State in the North, Mpu in Enugu State in the west, and Okigwe in Imo State in the East. It is the guinea fowl that lays the golden egg for successive administrations in Ebonyi State.
Apart from total lack of government presence in Obinagu-Ishiagu, there is untold hardship among the natives of the community. In this age and time, the people of the community still drink from ponds and other rural sources. There is acute water scarcity in Obinagu-Ishiagu.
The headquarters of Ivo Local Government Area is in Ishiaka, on Ishiagu soil, a few metres away from Obinagu-Ishiagu. But the only thing that residents see are exotic cars driven by government functionaries while their land remains desolate and abandoned.
A resident of the community, Mr. Michael Okorie, said the joy of the community’s residents is always cut short at every approaching dry season. That, he noted, is when it dawns on them that they have been rendered hopeless and helpless by the government, as there is usually no visible attempt to mitigate their suffering.
He said that the community was rich in minerals, noting that it is probably the cause of the acute water shortage, bedevilling the people.
He lamented that over the years, the residents had known a single source of water – the Ogele-Aja-Ivo pond, located inside a thick forest in the community.
It was gathered that an indigene of the community, Christopher Okorie, tried all he could to sink boreholes in multiple locations across the community to find a lasting solution to the water problem in the area. But his efforts were fruitless.
The reporter gathered that one of the problems was abundance of mineral deposits in the community, which allegedly pollutes the water. It was also learnt that the community sits on a very difficult soil texture that can only be solved by a workable water scheme.
In the absence of a viable solution to the water problem, the residents have since resorted to drinking water from the Ogele-Aja-Ivo pond. The next source of water to the community is over 20 kilometres away in Uturu, Abia State.
Okorie, it was gathered, attracted about seven boreholes across the community. But none of the projects was successful, as a result of the pollution in the soil.
Okorie said he also entered into a partnership with the Water for Life for Africa, a non governmental organisation based in the United States of America to bring succour to the people of the area.
According to him, the only way to achieve success in the area of provision of water is to embark on a massive construction of giant water reservoirs that could serve as retaining instruments for water, especially during the dry seasons.
The idea, he said, is to harvest the rain during the rainy seasons and store the rainwater for the community’s use during the dry season.
“The major problem prevalent in this community is water,” he explained. “There is no water anywhere in this community and my people are suffering. Many of them have died while majority of them have been down with various ailments, as a result of this problem.
When I was in the United States, I used my contacts to attract many boreholes here. But each time that I did, there would be no success. The last one I did, I got water but the water was not good for anything. It was polluted with various deposits like lead and other things that are not good for health, so we closed them down.
“The hope of my people was dashed again and I continued searching for solution. I even got services of highly educated geologists, including the present Secretary to Ebonyi State Government, Secretary to the State Government, Prof Ben Odoh, who came to the community and carried out geological survey and told me honestly that the only solution to our problem was for us to look for alternative means of getting water and that is when I knew we were in trouble.
“I thought of any other alternative to giving my people water and I approached my friends in New York, the Water for Life for Africa, a non-governmental organisation, and they are the ones helping me to construct a water reservoir, which will be completed by December. Our idea is that no rainfall will be allowed to waste again. We are going to harvest every rain from every roof in Ishiagu and channel the water to the reservoir and store them there for use in the dry season,” he explained.
He said the reservoir under construction, with an estimated capacity of 2.5 million litres will be completed before end of next month.
“We have plans of constructing more in various locations across the community to serve the need of my people. All those who can afford to construct their personal reservoirs, including myself, are all excluded from partaking in the use of the system. It is purely targeted at the poor, the less privileged and those who cannot afford basic things of life,” he added.
But it appears that the state government seems to be aware of the situation. Recently, the governor, David Umahi, said his government would be spending N 2.1 billion on the rehabilitation of water facilities in the state.
Umahi followed it up with the flag-off of water projects in the three senatorial zones of the state.
Said the governor: “Let me put it properly that the Federal Government gave N600 million and we were expected to match it with another N600 million. We did and we also provided another N900 million. So, all together, the projects are going to be costing us about N2.1 billion.
“The scope of this job is, part one, rehabilitation of Ezillo water treatment plant and Sacamori pipeline network facilities. We intend to have storage tanks in Ichichi Forest, which will supply the Federal University at Ndufu Alike, Ikwo, supply the local government of Ikwo, supply some areas in Izzi, supply our rice mill and that of Engineer Ugwu.
“The Sacamori pipeline has its network through Ezza North, Ezza South, Ishielu, Izzi, Ohaukwu, and even FUNAI. We want to do proper integration of Ezillo water scheme and that of Oferekpe to ensure that if we have problems with Oferekpe and it is shut down, Ezillo will start supplying. But most importantly is the distribution network in Abakaliki.”
He said the Ishiagu water project had been redesigned and re-awarded to a competent contractor at the cost of N1.2 billion, stressing that the arrangement was to integrate all water projects.
“We just started a process to do some distribution network of our pipelines. And I have directed the Ministry of Water Resources to immediately tell us the balance of the distribution, so that within the next one year, we should beat our chests and say, everybody, especially within the capital city, is drinking good water,” the governor stated.
Excitement as Okorocha hosts Imo speaker
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has described the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr. Acho Ihim, as his beloved son in whom he is well pleased. The governor opined that he was elated that the speaker had written his name on the golden pages of history.
Speaking at the grand reception organised for Ihim on his emergence, as President, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), African Region, the governor told the speaker that henceforth a new chapter had opened in his life.
Okorocha said: “It is the desire of an ageing father to see a rising son.” He then made reference to the Bible with regard to the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist and what happened afterward.
He added: “This gathering is to give honour to whom honour is due. He has proven himself. The joy of every leader is to raise men. Acho Ihim, today, a new chapter has opened in your life.”
On his part, Acho promised to give profound leadership for the benefit of the state, the country and the continent.
The event was attended by a number of dignitaries, including former Senator President, Chief Ken Nnamani, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Mrs. Nkechi Okorocha, Mr. Demetrius Ngalami, Secretary, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Africa Region and Imo Deputy Governor. Eze Madumere, among others.
Also in attendance were about 12 speakers across the country, led by the national president, Rt. Hon Abdulmumini Ismaila Kamba.
With joy, Enugu community welcomes new transformer gift
By Sunday Orji
Amorji Nike is one of the many communities in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State. With a vast land mass and huge population, it remains one of the thriving communities in the area.
Recently, the town’s residents became the proud recipients of a power transformer courtesy of the MTN Foundation, a development, which is already turning around the lives of the people by boosting economic activities.
Igwe Titus Okoro, the traditional ruler of the community, is one of the people still celebrating this rare gesture. He goes with the title of Eze Oha 1 of Amorji Nike. As a traditional ruler, he believes that to achieve a successful reign, one of the most important things to give to his subjects are social amenities. And he says he has endeavoured to attract as much needed social amenities to the community as possible.
“I am a traditional ruler and the leader of my people; I must make sure that they live in a favourable environment. So, I have over the years done my best to attract and even sponsor numerous initiatives and amenities in the community, including scholarships, employment, widows and widowers’ foundation and even a good road network.”
He, however, admits that among all these achievement, there is one that gives him greatest satisfaction. And that is the attraction of a 500 KVA transformer to the community courtesy of MTN What Can We Do Together Initiative at a time when the community needed it most.
“When I nominated my community for a transformer donation, it was out of the dire need for stable power supply in our area. I was pleased with the verification processes that followed, especially the follow up calls that led to the donation; it really makes me happy.
“The achievement is one of my happiest, because MTN Foundation fulfilled its promise of giving back to the communities and improving the quality of life in them and so, this transformer is a demonstration of that.
“The transformer indeed has served us greatly since its provision and installation. It has aided business and economic activities around the communities, as a lot of small business owners and entrepreneurs depend on constant electricity to sustain their business activities. We are grateful for this and we urge MTN Foundation to continue in its efforts to improve the lives of Nigerians in their several communities
“True, I might have achieved a lot for my community, but this stands as one of my happiest achievements.”
Daily Sun learnt that the transformer donation at Amorji-Nike was one among 200 projects that were successfully delivered in 200 communities across 200 local government areas in the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The projects focused on four major areas: Electricity, transformer, borehole, school furniture and household item donations to select orphanages.
Interestingly, following thousands of entries received under its What Can We Do Together Initiative Phase 2, MTN Foundation (MTNF), it was learnt, had begun verification visits to 1,085 communities that made the shortlist across the country.
The verification visits were geared towards achieving a final selection of 200 successful communities to benefit from the programme.
Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, said the What Can We Do Together Initiative was a unique project that aimed at putting smiles on the faces of individuals and improving the lots of Nigerian communities.
“Just like the phase 1 of the initiative, we are grateful to all the well-meaning persons that nominated their communities. The increased number of entries we received in the phase two is an indication that more and more people are taking the needed initiative to attract positive change to their communities,” she said
Nonny maintained that the What Can We Do Together was a unique and remarkable project because it was meant for Nigerians. “We are pleased to sustain and improve on the huge success recorded in the first phase; it’s heartwarming to see the eagerness with which Nigerians are willing to partner with MTNF in its unrelenting commitment to complement government’s efforts in infrastructural development across various communities in the country,” she added.
Daily Sun further learnt that MTN Foundation targets 200 communities in 200 local councils in the country to benefit from 200 interventionist projects for the phase 2 of the project. The foundation will focus on electricity transformer, borehole, school furniture and medical supply donations to community health care centres. The 200 communities will benefit from transformers, boreholes, school furniture and primary health care centres.