From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Theirs has been a consistent cry for help over the constant flooding ravaging their layout, but help seems to be elusive in coming their way.
The landlords and residents of Oduke Layout, Obosi dreads the rainy season like a plague not because they do not need the rain and its accompanying blessings, but because of the fact that once it rained, they begin to count their losses as a result of heavy flooding.
According to the Chairman of the Landlords Association, Mr Nicholas Okechukwu, their problem began in 2012 after the construction of the Ezeiweka Road connecting Awada to Obosi.
The construction company handling the project stopped the drainage channel at Oduke junction instead of finishing it to link up the Onitsha/Owerri Road.
The result, according to Okechukwu, has been enormously catastrophic with the fact that water collected from the drainage now terminates at Oduke layout junction and in the absence of any drainage, the water spills over to the Oduke environment thereby flooding the entire neighbourhood.
Oduke layout is a residential area with a teeming population and large units of houses.
At the last count, three persons have been confirmed dead from the flooding, 20 houses already submerged while 45 buildings lost their fences under the surge of the current from flood water.
These are besides damaged vehicles and other household property.
Okechukwu told Oriental News that the layout has suffered colossal losses running into N2 billion since their problem started while the family of Sunday Omenyi, one of the victims who died in 2013 when a wall fence pulled down by the flood collapsed on him, has been crestfallen since then.
Presenting several letters of appeal for urgent government intervention, Okechukwu noted that the former Commissioner of Works in Anambra State under the Peter Obi administration, Callistus Ilozumba assured them that remedial works will commence on the area but nothing came out of such promises until Obi left office.
Disclosing that the people are not relenting, he noted that they have followed it up with the Obiano administration knowing that government is a continuum though their promises have not yielded results.
“During the campaigns, the residents were mobilized to the extent that it was either you vote for Obiano or you pack out because we felt that since Obi did well but could not assist us because of several administrative bottlenecks we still believed in continuity.
“On our own, we have been unrelenting; trying to see how we can patch up things on our own with our limited resources, but the truth is that the volume of work required in solving the problem is what we cannot afford on our own. The essence of government is to do for the people what they (the people) cannot do for themselves.
“One of the dangerous situations now is the fast eroding of the soil under a 330KVA High Tension Tower which supplies power from Awada Station to Alaoji in Imo State. Unless something is urgently done, the erosion will one day pull down the tower and if such tragedy happens, the loss of lives will measure in hundreds because many will be electrocuted,” Okechukwu said.
When Oriental News visited the layout, it was observed that residents are still living in apprehension.
Scars of the past destructions caused by flooding were still visible even as some broken down schools and buildings whose owners have abandoned to run for dear life still littered the environment.
It was also few days after a torrential rain fall but the residents were still on the process of recovering their property that were carried away by the flood.
There were also fears that some dangerous reptiles like snakes and crocodiles were lurking around some homes that witnessed the heavy flooding.
Many were also counting their losses as household items, vehicles, foodstuffs and vehicles were damaged.
Chukwubike Okafor, a new tenant in the area, lamenting said: “I packed in during the dry season by December last year. Though one of my friends warned me that this place is a no-go-area because of flooding, I never knew it can be up to this magnitude. We have not reached the peak of rainy season time but this is already what we are experiencing. It was when I packed in that I discovered that many developers abandoned their houses and fled in agony while it is even rare to see new tenants here because those already in are seeking for a way out unless government intervenes. I don’t have the cash to look for a new abode now but government should realize that this is an emergency situation,” he cried.
But when Oriental News contacted the Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Mr Law Chinwuba , he said that the state was constrained by paucity of funds, but promised that they would try their best to address the Oduke problem.
“We are trying to address that issue. You know that there is paucity of funds in Nigeria presently. Many people have been calling but they should realize that we inherited contracts for outstanding jobs running into billions of naira. The governor has obligations to do fresh road projects too because it is extremely important but in addition to new projects, he has been paying bills too.
“We priotise these things presently because we are no more in the season of economic boom, where projects are ongoing everywhere. Many governments don’t pay salaries now, but we have managed to remain afloat in Anambra. There is a place we fixed that project with intention that it will fly. If it pulls through, they are lucky,” he said.
The commissioner also enjoined journalists and residents to assist the government by doing the needful.
He hammered on the need for residents to stop blocking drainages with refuse, urging them to contribute to a healthier environment in the state.