Enugu North Residents Cry Over Erosion Menace, Scores Council Chairman High

On September 25 2017, Hon John Okechukwu Eze was appointed the transition committee chairman of Enugu north local government area of Enugu state by Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. The tenure, many said, would be too short as he is to only hold sway to usher in an elected council chairman. Again there was no expectation in terms of democracy dividends because of the recessed economy.

Two and a half months down the line, the views of the residents of the council are that Hon Eze has surmounted all odds in line with the revolutionary leadership of his boss, Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

They mention Hon Eze’s reconstruction of the dilapidated toilet facilities at Ekulu Primary School among people-oriented projects of his administration. A teacher at the school, Mrs Eucharia Onoh, poured encomiums on him, saying “In a large school like this, if there are no functional toilet facilities, children and teachers are exposed to environmental hazards. It was so until the authorities of Enugu north LGA came to our rescue. We now go there with ease because of the neatness. We are happy with Hon Eze. God will continue to give him the enablement to continue with this work.”

Another teacher Owo Francisca (Mrs) said before the intervention of Hon Eze, “It was unbearable. But I am impressed since this work started. The transition committee chairman fixed the roofs; the facilities are now functional. We are happy because the risk of contracting diseases has been put to rest. I am optimistic that the work would be rounded off at the scheduled time. Hon Eze did this in just a little above two months in office. He is the type of person that we
need at the third-tier government.”

The administration also filled the potholes along New Market-Ngwo road that was a nightmare for motorists over the years. Some vehicles had their suspensions damaged as a result of the potholes. However, the road in addition to the adjoining Cemetery road, is now motorable. A source in the council said the road had been awarded by the state government, so the intervention of the council is palliative.

At Odu Okuko section of Ogbete main market, the administration is also reclaiming some portions of erosion to save shops from collapsing. According to Fidelis Ugwu, a chicken dealer at the market, “The reclaiming measures are a saving grace for most of us because our sources of livelihood were already threatened. Over 4, 000 persons do businesses here daily. If you check behind these shops, some buildings had already collapsed while others are heavily under threat. But today we heave a sigh of relief.”

Mr Uzoego Kingsley, the town engineer of the council, said, “Hon Eze is a grass-roots man. It is true that the timeframe given to him is short, but he is using the little duration to prove that time is not always the cause of low-service delivery.

This project checks the encroachment of the erosion into the market. It is an age-long menace, and we are happy that he is tackling it headlong.”

Various health centres in the council are also in bad shape. In tackling this, Hon Eze embarked on the completion of Aguowo Health Centre that had been abandoned over the years. The project, which is expected to be commissioned soon, has eight rooms, and maternity wards. It is gathered that the satellite town does not have a functional health centre.

Hon Uche Onunze, the council’s supervisor for health, said the centre, when completed, would provide quality health services to the people of the area.

In his words, “It will bring quality health services to the residents. None existed there before. We want the people of that area to have access to quick and quality health services.”

The administration also receives praises from the mainly-farming community plying Idume road. Investigations show that the road leads to the highest poultry and piggery settlements in the state.

Orji Eberechukwu, senior special assistant on special duties to the chairman, said, “It is a hilltop community and it is about one kilometre. It is however not the only road that we have constructed. But the road has a lot of economic importance because the community has the highest number of poultry and piggery farms at Ngwo, especially the hilltop. The Idume road leads to at least five huge poultry farms that supply over 350, 000 eggs to the market daily, as well as about six piggery farms with over 100 pigs daily supplies to the market. We shall do the drainage, the culvert box, and get it to the asphalt level. We are grateful to our governor for graciously awarding the Milken-Ngwo- Ekochin road, which links Idume road. That will surely boost the economic activities of our people.”

The administration is further embarking on the construction of a 500-capacity ultra-modern car park at New Market to boost its internally-generated revenue.

Orji said, “Because of paucity of funds, the project can’t be financed alone by the council. Thus we sought developers through the public-private partnership, where we provide the land, the authorisation, and the developers develop. We found credible developers with proven track-records. They will finance 100 percent of the projects. Enugu north LGA is not spending one kobo. The council will benefit a lot from this project. Normally what we see in the most PPP arrangements is that developers build, sell and recoup 100 percent of their investments, and still manage till about twenty years. Here, the local government is part of the management. It is not a complete concession. The era of 100 percent dependent on the federal allocations is over. One must look inwards and see how we generate funds internally. The tenure of the construction is one and a half years.

“Within four months of the construction, we start to sell. In the next four months or thereabouts, the local government would have started generating revenue from there.”

A politician in the area, who did not want his name mentioned, said the scorecard of Hon Eze is high: “Aside these, his administration sponsored nine of its workers to Jerusalem for pilgrimage. The beneficiaries were randomly selected in accordance with an already existing procedure in the council. Unfortunately in the past few years, the scheme stopped. The blessings the pilgrimage would bring to the council informed the decision to sponsor them. He also restored twenty-four
hour power supply to the council headquarters through installation of inverters.

Hitherto, power supply was a nightmare there. Today workers work optimally. We also thank the chairman for clearing the blocked drainage system on the Milken Hill route. It has brought safety on that road.”

However a problem currently confronting some communities in the council is erosion. It was gathered that some of the communities had been submerged by erosion while others are seriously threatened.

A victim of the menace, Mr Eze Joseph Osisioma, said the people of Amuzam and Hiltop/Idume community had suffered untold hardship caused by erosion. He said, “It has destroyed our farmlands, residential buildings, and all our sources of livelihood. I plead with the federal government for a quick intervention to avoid the community from going into extinction.”

The transition committee chairman of the council, Hon John Okechukwu Eze,recently told newsmen that various projects his administration initiated might not be completed because of the shortness of the time, but expressed optimism that his successor would continue with them.

According to him, “The incoming chairman emerged as our party’s candidate abi nitio. He is an astute leader. The projects I started were duly discussed with him.

It is not an individual thing. It is about Enugu north LGA and its people. I believe he will do well because of his sterling track-records.”

On the erosion menace ravaging the area, Hon Eze expressed optimism that various interventions from the state and the federal governments would be extended to the council under the ecological funds intervention to alleviate the sufferings of the people.