Erosion would have swallowed us if not for Soludo's intervention - Ekwulobia residents

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By Madu Obi

Residents of Ekwulobia, Aguata local government area of Anambra State have showered praises on the state governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo for his intervention in combating the gully erosion devastating the area, stating that but the governor's action, most of the houses in the area would have been destroyed by the erosion menace.

The nine villages in the community are seriously threatened by the gully erosion and over the years, many families have had been displaced.

With the rainy season setting in, gully erosion in the area has continued to expand and displacing more people from their homes and farmlands.

Worried by the situation, Governor Soludo, in January this year, engaged two contractors, which are working on the erosion control project in Ekwulobia.

A trader at Ekwulobia market, Mr. Augustine Ezeokoli said he was already making arrangements to relocate his family to Amaokpala in Orumba North local government area, when the contractors hired by Governor Soludo began work on the erosion sites and within few weeks, the gully erosion threatening his compound, was diverted.

He said: "Many communities around our community, including Oko, Nanka, Agulu, among others, are devastated by gully erosion. In Ekwulobia, all the nine villages have terrible stories to tell concerning erosion.

I can remember at least ten houses that have been swallowed by gully erosion in the past seven years in our village. Because of the closeness of the erosion site to my compound, I bought a piece of land at Amaokpala and had already started building a house there before Governor Soludo awarded the two contracts to combat the erosion.

As I speak, the contractors are doing a good job and the erosion channel has been successfully diverted. We can now sleep with our eyes closed."

Another resident of the area, Chief Christian Okoli, whose younger brother's one storey - building was already developing cracks, said they stopped sleeping in the house at night for the fear that a heavy rain might affect their house.

He said that members of his village were contributing money to combat the erosion in their own little way, but it was like pouring sand into the ocean.

"We were just contemplating what to do until we saw construction equipment moving into our village. On inquiry, we were informed that it was Governor Soludo who awarded contract to save us from the devastation.

We thank God for the governor who, apart from working on the Ekwulobia erosion sites, is also transforming the entire Ekwulobia into a modern city, with one of the best flyovers in the country being constructed in the town", Okoli said.

Speaking at the site, the Assistant Project Manager of the construction company handling the project, Mr. Imamofo Ken-Wiwa, expressed joy that the erosion menace in the area is being controlled successfully.

He said that when the state government awarded the contract in January, his company thought of waiting till the end of the rainy season to start work, adding, however, that following the prediction of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, that rains would start early this year, they had to start work immediately.

According to him, if the work had been delayed, most of the houses around the erosion sites would have been washed away after few rains.