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| Governor Okowa, in T-shirt during one of his many inspections of the drainage work. |
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| A portion of the storm drainage work in Asaba. |
By Chukwudi
Abiandu
BEFORE Sen.
(Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa assumed office as governor of Delta in May, 2015, parts of
the state, including Asaba, the capital, were perennially plagued by flooding
during the rainy season. It was on record that flood claimed lives and brought
down buildings in some cities and communities in the state. The situation was
precarious, especially as no serious effort was made by previous regimes to
address the challenge. Daunting as it was, Okowa declared unequivocally that he
would assuage the residents’ predicament occasioned by the flooding by
combating it frontally. And, in keeping with his innate virtue, which has
endeared him to many and earned him the chieftaincy title of EKWUEME from his
Owa kingdom, he earnestly commenced the walk of his talk, awarding contract for
“Asaba StormDrainage’’, a truly audacious project designed to stem flood menace
in the city. The project, which is being executed in phases, is at the
completion stage and it has been acknowledged that when inaugurated, will conveniently
swallow all flood in Asaba whenever it rains. Residents are excited and
anxiously waiting for the respite
Residents and
other persons familiar with the flood menace in Asaba will testify that towards
the end of raining season in 2019, great improvement was recorded in the
management of the flooding which had “tormented ’’ the city for decades.
Okowa’s “Storm Drainage’’ to the rescue. Hitherto, the flood problem created
anxious moments engendered by fears that the volume of water was going to submerge
houses. And, come the rains and flood did, and had buildings go under and
deaths recorded in some cases. Indeed, the flood menace was an albatross to
residents of the capital city. The busy Okpanam Road was usually overwhelmed by
flood, causing terrible snarl in traffic, with motorists forced to drive
indiscriminately and lawlessly. The road leading to Junior Staff Quarters from
Summit Road was often cut off during the rains and premises of Delta
Broadcasting Service (DBS), Asaba, also went under, submerged by the flood,
with offices run over and equipment destroyed. Besides Okpanam Road, DBs Road,
Junior Staff Quarters Road, other places usually badly affected by flood
include Jesus Saves Road, DLA Road, Ambassador Leo Okogwu Road, Infant Jesus,
Temple Clinic area and whole of Asaba inland town.
But today,
that flood plague, with its attendant trauma to residents of Asaba, is no more.
The Storm Drainage project by Okowa came to the rescue and has brought joy to
the people. A trader who sells processed cassava (fufu) at the Akpu junction on
Okpanam Road, Mr Kosisor Ekele, described the flood project as “fantastic and
great’’. Another trader at the Midwifery Road junction, who declined to be
named, confirmed that they have begun to enjoy cessation of flood problems
because of the Storm Drainage project. The Consultant Engineer for the Asaba
Storm Water project, Mr John Onwalu, gave an insight into how the project
started – “the flood problem brought a lot of suffering in Asaba, and this gave
the state government and people concern. When we came in, we carried out
preliminary study to find out the cause of the flooding so as to be able to
proffer solution. From our preliminary study, we found out that Asaba is
sitting on the lower plain of a valley. Taking Asaba and Okpanam together,
every rain drop in Okpanam comes down to Asaba because Okpanam is situated at
187 metres above sea level, while the centre of Asaba, which is at Inter Bua
Roundabout is situated at 44 metres above sea level.“So, you have a difference
of about 143 metres in elevation. This explains why every drop of water in
Okpanam flows to Asaba. The situation shows why even when there is no rainfall
in Asaba, it still experiences flooding flowing in from Okpanam. Onwalu also
disclosed that a major problem which their study discovered was that when Delta
was created with Asaba as capital, there was an initial lack of urban planning,
which should have mapped out roads, residential areas, commercial areas,
schools, etc. But, with no defined areas for property development, people began
to develop property indiscriminately, blocking natural water paths, thereby
hindering the flow of the precipitated flood through its natural path.
According to him, water must find its level and that is why you find water
meandering through different places, even through homes.
He explained
that the discoveries prompted a survey of the whole area to be carried out soon
after the state government under Gov. Okowa directed that Storm Drainage
project should be embarked on. “The survey was topographic and intended to
collect information of every spot in Asaba. With that, we were able to generate
the spot heights from which the contour mapping was produced, with the street
names, and all the verifiable features that will help in our work, after which
we went into the proper analysis to generate the flood drainage design,” Onwalu
said and added that the analysis was to provide answer to the question of
volume of flood water that Okpanam contributes to Asaba and how to manage it.
Armed with
adequate technical details on issues around the perennial and intense flooding
in the capital and environs, including determination of the hydrological
channel section that could accommodate the volume of flood water from Okpanam,
the government began, as onerous as it appeared, a comprehensive and apt
strategy to arrest the scourge, flooding. It deployed Storm Drainage approach,
tasking the contractors to split the project into three phases for ease of
handling and coordinated supervision. Work in all the phases has been
concluded, with only finishing touches ongoing to ensure that when the draibns
are activated, flooding in Asaba will be history from this year. The project
was superbly, conscientiously and pragmatically executed in tandem with its
concept. According to Mr Lawrence Okoji, a lawyer and resident of Asaba, from
the gargantuan tunnels we saw and the mighty pipes that run through them, Okowa
has saved the state capital and the inhabitants from the debilitating
experience of flooding. (see the rest on www.tribuneonlineng.com)
The only way
I can described the governor is that he is a “home-grown governor who knows the
needs of the people, feels their pain and goes ahead to soothe them. He is
God-fearing and loves Deltans. Indeed, Okowa is an angel.’’ He added that Okowa
had raised the stake of governance, inadvertently challenging anyone who would
succeed him in 2023 to sustain the legacydemonstra
For Julius
Nmor, another resident, “Okowa has, with the Asaba Storm Drainage project,
shown beyond doubt that he was prepared for the job of governor. This is true
because no sooner than he was inaugurated as governor than he embarked on
projects that gave meaning to the lives of the people. I wished he could be
allowed to take a third term in office.’’He urged that people of the state
should pray for the governor continually, saying that was the only way they
could best apprecioate him for his love for them which he had exemplified in
projects, including Asaba Storm Drainage.
Onwalu stated
that now that the main storm sewers had been created in Asaba, “the government
is now concentrating on creating the street drains, and everywhere that a road
is being constructed or rehabilitated, a street drain is also being provided.
“It is the drain that makes the road to last because when there is no water
sitting under the asphalt, the road will not collapse. Every drop of water
flows into the drain which empties into the sewers, thus keeping the road
networks to endure for a long period.The engineer explained that the new
drainages were designed to empty flood into the River Niger.
Asaba
residents have continued to commend Gov. Okowa for his strong passion to ensure
that flooding in the capital city ended by taking concrete and painstaking
measures. It is this passion that has spurred him to embark on this level and
magnitude of work. This passion expresses his love to give and bequeath
enduring infrastructure that will make life and living pleasurable for Deltans,
for their prosperity and a Stronger Delta. And daily, in their different places
of worship, the people are in full supplication to God, asking him to bless the
governor for being His good apostle, meeting the people at the points and
according to their needs.
Of course,
the Asaba experience is set for replication in Warri, where the contract for
Storm Drainage has been awarded. Before now, there was no survey, but today,
Warri has a master plan. Just the same way that Asaba was prioritized is the
same way that Warri has been prioritized.At his recent inspection of the
project, Okowa had said, “I believe that the completion of ongoing drainage
projects will remarkably reduce the water overflow in Asaba,’’ and assured that
his administration would continue to do its best to make life more meaningful
for citizens.
Announcing
the redirection of fight against flooding to Warri, the governor told
journalists in December, 2019 the governor explained a point, saying, “we are
managing our resources judiciously and that is why we are giving special
attention to drainage projects in Warri and Uvwie area, because they have a
huge flooding problem. Whatever was done in the past was not just good enough
considering the terrain in the area.
“We have been
able to carry out proper studies and we will embark on six storm drainage
projects that will drain a major part of Warri and Uvwie when completed. It may
not follow in the same manner like that of Asaba since we are going to use ‘Mat
Concrete’ because of the terrain. We will tackle the drainage problem to ensure
that at the end of this tenure we will be able to beat our chest that we have
done something good for Warri people.
“Once we have
solved the drainage challenges, it becomes much easier to construct more
roads.”He disclosed that contract for the drainage projects, which as with the
Asaba pattern, are in the meantime split into two phases, have been awarded to
CCECC Ltd and Levante Construction Ltd at the cost of N9.5 billion each to
construct six storm drainage projects to solve flooding problems in Warri and
Uvwie. “This administration will continue to prioritise resources in order to
provide necessary infrastructure for the people,” he assured.
With the
gratitude being heartily expressed by Asaba residents on the “victory’’ of the
state government over flooding in the city via the Storm Drainage project,
inhabitants of Warri obviously can’t wait for the respite. To them, it is like
it happened “yesterday’’.
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