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Felix Ikem, Nsukka
Nsukka residents may soon bid goodbye to the hardship and sorrow caused by flood in the area during rainy season.
Their cries have seemingly attracted the attention of the Federal Government which has earmarked N40 million for control of erosion at Onuiyi in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state.
Senator representing Enugu North, Chukwuka Utazi told Daily Sun said the money was captured in the 2019 budget proposal and will be put to use when the budget is passed into law.
“As senator representing Enugu North, I made a case for it because of the danger posed by the gully erosion in that area, some buildings within the area have collapsed, and farmland washed away.
“The erosion at Onuiyi Nsukka has caused havoc, especially during rainy season. I am happy money has been budgeted for it,” he said.
Daily Sun investigation revealed that the area never experienced flooding until few years ago, when the state government constructed the Nsukka/Enugu road and other intra-city roads in the town without proper drainage
Since then, it has been harvest of sorrow for residents anytime it rained in the university town. Just last October 23, 28-year-old Kelvin Eze, a trader at the Ogigi Main Market, Nsukka was swept away and drowned by flood.
Daily Sun gathered that at least 10 persons lose their lives to the natural disaster ravaging the town every year.
In July 2017, an eight-year-old girl, Ezinne Eze was washed away by flood in their compound at new market road, Alu Udele, Nsukka when she came out to throw away used diapers. The flood was said to have originated from the waterway channelled into their compound during the construction of Nsukka/Enugu Road in 2016.
The flood which has its way from Enugu road down to the University of Nigeria Nsukka gate, terminating at Alor Uno community has pulled down the gate at the victim’s family compound.
Also, in July 2018, a five-year-old girl, Miss Chimsimdiri Onoja was drowned too in the flood on her way from school following a down pour that fateful afternoon. The incident which happened at Uwal Ugwu village, a neglected suburb in Nsukka town attracted widespread concern as people appealed to the government to find lasting solution to the havoc caused by perennial flood in the area.
Daily Sun had reported the incident involving a UNN student and a commercial motorcyclist who were killed by flood near the first gate of the university.
Alex Chukwu from Ebonyi state was a student of Mathematics before the unfortunate incident. He was drowned alongside Okada operator identified as Monday Ezema from Ogbodu Edem Ani community, Nsukka. The list of victims is endless.
Though the executive secretary of Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (ENSEMA) Mrs. Nkechi Eneh had organised workshops to sensitize people on how to prevent flood, the situation has not changed.
ENSEMA in addition, has also distributed relief materials worth millions of naira to flood victims in the zone especially those in Uwal Ugwu village and other affected areas.
A community leader, Chief Martins Ezugwu applauded Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the township roads in Nsukka but called for the proper channelisation of the water ways.
He however, thanked Utazi for his bold step in complementing what the state government was doing.
Residents of Nsukka believe that the Federal Government erosion control project when executed will help in reducing death and risks associated with flood in the town.
