From Felix Ikem, Nsukka
In Enugu State, perhaps no project by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration has attracted attention like the Opi-Nsukka dual carriageway, and it is for obvious reasons. The road, which was neglected by previous administrations, is a strategic major highway to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Not many were surprised that it was one of the first projects undertaken by the Ugwuanyi administration immediately after inauguration in 2015.
For those familiar with the university town, the Opi-Nsukka road remains one of the legacy projects of Ugwuanyi.
However, the experience of some residents and landlords in Nsukka regarding the road is sweet and sour. Much as they are happy over the project, they are in distress over the menace of flood in the aftermath of construction, following the channelling of floodwater to their area.
Since 2016 when the state government finished the project and the subsequent channelling of the floodwater to the area, residents and landlords have been living in fear, even as some lives have been lost and houses abandoned following the menace.
A visit by some affected areas by our reporter showed some buildings on the verge of collapse, even as many have been pulled down by the rampaging flood.
Touched by the increasing the flood menace, a group has sent a save our souls to the Enugu State government to help tackle the problem.
The group, Nsukka Landlords and Residents’ Association, said the ugly situation has led to the loss of many lives and their landed property worth hundreds of millions of naira in recent years.
In a letter written to Governor Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, signed by Sir Ambrose Okoyeuzu and Mr. Henry Eze, chairman and secretary of the group, respectively, the group stressed that the cause of the menace was the wrong channelling of the drainage system in Nsukka from Enugu road during the road construction in 2016.
The letter, which was titled “Loss of Lives and Property Occasioned By Incessant Upsurge of Floods At Every Downpour Along Aludele Gutter To UNN First Gate,” partly read, “with due respect and great sense of responsibility, we the residents and landlords, numbering thousands on both banks of the gutter stretching from Aludele (near Ogige Community Bank) to University of Nigeria, Nsukka first gate, under the auspices of United Residents Association of Agbugwu Lane/University Road, Nsukka, wish to commend Your Excellency’s purposeful and result-oriented leadership and good works in Nsukka as in other parts of the state.”
The group said that notable among the governor’s interventions in Nsukka were the construction of Enugu Road-University Road dual carriageway with pavement, drainages and streetlights befitting the university town’s status as the academic capital of Nigeria.
“We do not also lose sight of your reconstruction of Odenigbo- Ogurugu road, Aku-New Anglican Road, St. Theresa Road, lbagwa Road, among others. These and your other projects in the last five years in virtually all facets of life endear you to the people of Enugu State and explain why the people continue to express their appreciation, prayers, support and loyalty to your administration as you witnessed and as evidenced by your landslide victory in your last election.
“Your Excellency, the recent channelling of the “artificial lake” in Ugwuoye, perhaps due to an oversight on the part of the the contractor who handled construction of Enugu Road, and other water channels from Orba Road, Ogige market, University Market Road to Aludele has resulted in incessant upsurge and unimagined increase in volume, velocity and force of the flood, which overflows the banks of Aludele gutter at every downpour, ravaging the entire Aludele and wreaking untold havoc,” the group said.
Giving graphic illustration of the destruction occasioned by the flood menace, the group stated that the flood had pulled down buildings, fences, culverts and created deep gullies and made many houses inaccessible for landlords, occupants and visitors.
The group regretted that the flood has forced residents to park their cars far away and trek to their homes, even as it has also sacked residents and landlords from their homes to other areas as tenants with heaps of refuse dumped into the compounds of residents.
It said that the deplorable situation constitutes a serious health hazard to residents and visitors alike.
“The most worrisome is that it has regrettably swept many people to death. Those who have painfully lost their lives to the flood include an unidentified Okada man near UNN first gate in 2015. In 2016, another Okada man from Okputu who worked at Ministry of Works, Nsukka Unit, was killed by flood. Also swept away by the flood include a nine-year-old girl from Umuonu Umuida in Enugu Ezike in 2017; and an unidentified youth corper near the first gate in 2020,” the group added.
It, therefore, requested for a courtesy call by a delegation of the landlords and residents on a date most convenient for the governor, saying that, if granted, the gesture would enable the delegation explain to him the damage caused by the rampaging flood, efforts made in the past to check it and how best to address the problem permanently to forestall further loss of life and damage to property.