By Mary Ayobahan and Tosin Oluwafemi
The common saying that one good turn deserves another was the expression of the people of Ugboha Community in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State, who came out with jubilation to appreciate the Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki for bringing them relief with the completion of the remediation work on the gully erosion site in Ugboha Community undertaken by the Edo State office of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP).
HRH Steven Odijie Ukato, the Onojie of Ugboha, who delivered the goodwill message, expressed his gratitude to State Government for rescuing his land from severe degradation which would have resulted in his community being split in two by the gully erosion, despite the limited land space in the Community. He added that the project has helped to restore the socio-economic activities of the area and saved the lives and properties of residents.
While appreciating the Project Team led by Dr. Tom Obaseki, the Onojie commended them for ensuring the successful completion of the project. In his words, “It only takes the mental will of a right-thinking person to drive capacity building into humanity and that is what your team has done because not everybody that is given such an opportunity will do what you and your team did.” He thanked the Edo State NEWMAP for doing more than the stated scope of the project in his domain.
Also speaking, the Project Coordinator of Edo State NEWMAP, Dr. Tom Obaseki, thanked the people of Ugboha for their support during the construction process. He, however, appealed to the people to take ownership of the project by ensuring proper maintenance, stressing it as the only way to guarantee the sustenance of the project.
Similarly, the Environmental Officer of Edo State NEWMAP, Mrs. Pauline Okundia, admonished residents of the Community to engage in tree and grass planting within their domain to avoid a recurrence of erosion in the area. She stressed the need for a proper waste management system in the community and to avoid building on the paths of flowing erosion that act as discharge points for the gully erosion project in the Community.
The Project Engineer of NEWMAP, Engr. Edwin Asemota Ero, also revealed that as the Ugboha gully erosion project is one of the longest amongst NEWMAP’s projects in the State, the team had to carry out a comprehensive engineering analysis and redesigned the area so as to have a permanent solution to the issue of flooding and erosion which has bedeviled the Community over the years. He disclosed that the project has a life span of ‘50 years return’.
Ero claimed that in the 10 years of the NEWMAP projects, the Ugboha Community has the largest length of roads constructed all over the Country spanning about 13.2km and 26,000m of drains. He added that new roads with drains were constructed to aid the discharge of flood water to the natural water body in the area.
