ANAMBRA STATE GOVT IN COLLABORATION WITH WORLD BANK, SECURES NNEWI AND ITS ENVIRONS FROM EROSION MENACE.


.... AS THE COMMUNITY EXTOLS GOV WILLIE OBIANO AND HON MELIE ONYEJEPU FOR SAVING THEIR LIVES AND PROPERTIES

By Bona Ogbonna.

Nnewichi is a Community in Nnewi North LGA of the present day Anambra State. The peace loving People of the community who are predominantly farmers, work up one morning in the mid Eighties to discover to their astonishment, that the water flow from their neighbors, mostly Nnobi, Ichida, Awka-etiti and Nnokwa, have dealt them a great blow as a result of concentrated runoff from steep ground flowing into cleared drainage depressions.

As at then, the Erosion was still in it's early stages but it escalated drastically as a result of a drainage system which the then Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI) constructed around the Erosion site and didn't channel the water ways to the end properly, but was stopped half way near the site, this made all the water coming from the drainage to move into the erosion site and surged the pace of the erosion.
It will be recalled that the then Federal Military Government established the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI) with the aim of rehabilitating various categories of roads in the country, and especially for the development of rural feeder roads in order to strengthen the massive efforts of food and agricultural self-sufficiency in the shortest possible period.
The following year after DFRRI constructed the drainage system, the erosion site increased drastically and the site that was once in the outskirts of Nnewichi, was moving in a fast rate and was already threatening lands, lives and properties of Nnewichi community.
The gully which was 3ft deep and 4ft wide before DFRRI's intervention, became more than 10ft deep and 20ft wide after collapse of the palliative works done by them.
The culverts linking Umuogboo Ngo to Akwu Umuogboo, and the one that connected Umuogboo Mbana with Akwu Umuogboo were washed away by the intimidating flood, this lead to a communal efforts to try to control the erosion as kids, youths and elderly came out to address the issue, lots of bamboo trees were planted in the Erosion site, a lot of money running into millions of naira was spent to help control and minimize the pace of the erosion.

HOPE WAS RESTORED BY GOV WILLIE OBIANO ADMINISTRATION.

But as can be seen today, the Government of Anambra State under H E, Chief Dr Sir Willie Obiano, the ANS-NEWMAP and the relentless efforts of Hon Sir Melie Onyejepu, SA BUDGET, EFFICIENCY/AIRS to the State Governor, who was recently appointment the General Manager of Anambra State Bureau of Public Procurement Board, have restored the hope of the community by bringing the menace under control.

The World Bank is funding the project because Anambra State Government agreed to pay its counterpart fund.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzsA-ws1qxk