14
COMMUNITY NEWS
Nigeria n T ribune Monday. 9 April. 2012
Flood ravages Isale-Asaka, Oke-Ado, Ogunpa-Alley By Seye Adeoiyl F urgent steps are not taken by Oyo State government through the state Ministry of Environment and o t her relc,\'8n t environmental protectJon agenCies to dredge some rivers and canals In communities Hke Oke-Ado. ogunpa - Alley. Baoku . Isale- Foko -and other streams In the adJolnlng communJUes In Ibadan very promplly. people: II\,Ing In the City may experience: another flood disaster similar to tllat of August 26. 20 I I . Thc areas had been flooded as a result of the two recent heavy down pour In the: last two weeks and many resl denLS of the areas are now living In fear. The residents of OkeAdo. espedally those reSiding In communities adjaCent to Saint Teresa's College. told Community News that they c ould no longer sleep with their two eyes closed anytime It rained.
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Community
very close to Saint Teresa's Col/ege. Oke Ado. Mr Samson Abldogun. called 011 the stale government La Inelude the canal in OkeAdo In the list of rivers. streams and canals 10 be dredged by the admlnlsu-ation. otherwise. we arc awaiting another Oood disaster In thiS area. espcdaUy now tllat ram has staned. At Oke- Ado. the blocked canal passes beside Teju lndustrles LlmIled and Mudah Investments Nigeria Limited
In Oke*Ado area of lbadan. where the waste water nowlng (rom the canal 15 presently causIng enVironment pollu tlon . Mr Tokunbo Shonubl told Commuoity News that envlronmental disaster loomed In the area because resldents of the area could no longer cope With the nuisance which the waste water from the blocked canal was crealIng. In his words . -the whole Dgunpa· Alleycommunlly Is In a total mess
problem In this commu nity Is well kIlown lo the state Ministry or Environment because we had WTitien many lelters to Infonn the state government about tile: e:nvironmental problem. but they won' t JUSt take any action to solve the problem.For Mr Lanre ShoDubl. anoth~r resident of Ogunpa- Alley. he said the blocked canal needed dredging . otherwis e. many lives and pro~r ties would be lost. ·We
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Inside the canal. The entire eDvlronment Is al ways flooded and sUnking whenever the~ Is B rainfall and we ha\-e complamed about the sltua· lion to the appropriate authorlties In the state, JndudlDg the authorities of Ibadan South West Local Government Area and the state Ministry of Environment. hut they had turned deaf ears to our cry'- he stated. At Isale -Asaka In Foko area . all the streams In the area had been blocked "'-1lh stagnant pool of dlny. slinking water. Many house owners also appeal¢. to the state government to come to their rescue. The major parts of Baoku community In Fako area . was also stinking \\'hen Communiry News vtslted the area. This was not unconnected Wilh bloe;ked stream and rivers In the
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News
findIngs in communities like Ososaml . especially where the Oyo Stale Youth Developmeru Council £Youth Centre) Is situated revealed that the resleat were not enjoying the beginning of this wet season illS the canal In the area had been blocked wllb refuse . Speaking with some nf the community dwellers, a welder whose shop IS located very close to the Youth Centre. Mr Scgun Opatlmehln. laid Community News thaI the go\'crnment should quickly come to their rescue as the canal In the area which he said links Oke-Ado and terminates Into Dgunpa river "''as totally blocked wtth sands and garbages. thus. the area ls usually prone to Dood anytime there was rain According to Opatlmeht.n . -there Is fire on the mountain and we are III a serious problem in this area. Th~ canal in tJus environmenL IntO which the waste water from Ososaml commufllty emptied Its COnlenlls totally blocked thus . preventing free flow of waste water Into Dgunpa rI\'er. -We have raised the aiann over the situation 011 many occasions. but II seems the state govemment is only waiting for disaster to happen again before tiler would take a d cdsive and positive: action to correct the problem: he staled. A house owner In the area . whose house Is
Ogunpa river. CommuoilY News however. obsuved that the canal has been nanowed _ with many heaps of refuse blockJng Its way. thereron:. the vlaste water often Dow Into rcsldenllal buildings and always nooded the Molele Dugbe road. thus contributlng to the gradual deteTioration of the TOad which was repa.lred by the last clviUan admln lstrallon In the state. Furthennore. speakIngWitil some hOU5eowners In a community
/ -Thi..s i..s one oJfhe h.o uses at Ogunpa-Alley area oJOke-Ado. Ibadnn. Dyo State, rClVOged by the recent rnUifall Photo: Seye AdenlyL
However. membc:.rs of FasoJa and Labuta Landlords Association. Foko. lbadan. have: appealed to the state governor. Senator Ablola AJlmobl. to help them dredge tht river linking the communlly with Ogunpa river In order [0 avoid flood disaster and outbreak or epidemic In the communily.
• Ibadan Rain wreaks havoc In
house. but many of her property, Including her OLLOWING the Toyokl Comry car "''en: scheavy downpour of nously damage<L last wed&: WednesAccording to her. -I day In tile: City of Tbadan. never knew that the ratn Oyo State. many house: could wreak such a seriand shop owners In differ- ous havoc on my house ent parts of the anCient and property . When II city arc now eountlng started. we all moved Intheir losses. side tile house. believing Community News that we: W'Cf'C safe. But as IkHngs from dilferent ar- Ule rain conUnued Willi eas of the City revealed the: heavy stOrm. U sudthai the heavy downpour denly rclJlO'\l'Cd one: part of which staned around 6.00 p . m . on that day and which ought to be a blessmg to the people of the Adamu Am.du. Dulse City. tumed out to be a HE National curse as many City dwc:llFadama CfS were. afJ'ected one way prog<amme. un<Ie< Of' the other. whUe some an: now Iamenung at the the Fadama m prqect has bad cxpcrte:nce they got disbur.lC:d NI98 mlIUon to 432 Fadama Users Groups from the rainfall. For example. people Iiv* under' 36 Fadama Commulng In communlUes like nity AssocialiAls in Jiga'M-'3. Owode-Academy. Muslim. Stak' to aecute their choice OdInjO.and lIe·Sheu. all In community development Tbadan. felt the pains of prqccts In their areas. The: money ",-as an aslhe rca::ntdownpour. With many roofing sheets of ·5Istanceproo.1dedjOintlyby many houses displaced by Ote World Bank. Federal and JlgaW3 Stale governihe rain. At Owode- Academy ments to the ranner ass0along lwo road. lbadan. ciations and groups under the: Fadama m pn;:Jg/'3.11U1te. Mrs Adlai Adeleke. a Disbursing the assishouse: owner In the; area told Community News tance. the: state: governor. lhat she was presenUy AlhaJI Sule Lamldo. who counung her losses be;- was represented by the cause: tile raJn nOI only Speaker. State Hou-se of remm'cd tile roof of her Assembly. Honou- rable Adamu Ahmed. said the
the roofing and our prop- Ogundokun. also felt lhe got soaked with wa- pains or the rain as the ter. Before we knew what . fiood entered his shop. was happening. the en- damaging his property. un: roar was removed by People of Apete comthe heavy storm . thus munity In lbadan. also causing an had a sad story to tell unquanuflable dam - about last week Wednesages. ~ s h e lamented_ day rainfall Mr Sc:un Akeju At Muslim and OdinJo told Community News areas. tile: story was the that many of the suea.rns same as many houses In Apete were overflown. and shops were: damaged. while there was an In A shop owner at MUSlim cn:a5C; In the water table area of fbadan. Mr AJade of rtvers and streams In
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Fadama ill disburses N198m to 432 groups in Jigawa
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present administration commltted to imprnvlog the soclo-economlc
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AlhaJI SuJe Lamido 0;plafned that since the incepdOn of his gownuncnt 1I1 2007. a lot had been achieved In the agJicullural SCClOr aimed al mass food production to achieve 113Uonal rood security and eradicate poveny among
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govenuncnl is gradually ar.:I steadlly changlng human c:nc:rro' as a 90UItt cIlabour to animal cnc:rgv and 8nalJy to modem mechanisation fanntng system. ~ Aa:Drt1tng him. "'to that regard. the proviSion of wa-kbuU loan packagt and tractortsatJon programme wID contirwe amd would be: supponed to achlCV"e tile aboveotljoctive. ~ he stated. In hiS weltcome address. ihe Permanent ~tary Ministry d Agr1cullun: and Natural Fksources. Alhajl MohaJlUnOO 1dr1s Drl2Ofno. saki thai the pre5I:Ilt administrntkln Wlder Governor 5ule I..amJdo lOOk a bold step l<M-artls uansfi:rnUng agricultural sectOr by mak-
the community AkeJu said. -there 15 the need for the contJ"8ctor sabdled With the respon Sibility of n:paJrtng Apete bndge to fast-track the f'ChabilitatiOn wort! If we arc to avert any disaster again In the he stated. Some house · owners In Apete were also not happy wttb the downpour. saying what they suffered was too much and as such. tht rain was not a blessing to them Some Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN) Installations at Apete community also got a touch of the stonn that accompanl~d the ..lnCali. as many electncal poles wen: damaged.. At Anranl area of lbadan. the DoocI ravaged some shops and also found Its way Into some houses In the area. Many residents of AJdgbe community along Chall~ an:a of the dry also had bad testlrnontts to tell about the down -
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The governor maintained that his gtm:mmcnt was paying all Its agr1I?Jlpow-. turaJ counterpart funding At Monlya area of and other developmental Tbadan. the fiood fomed proJects funds as at whin some shop owners 10 due:. "bcca.use d our beUd quickly c:Iose their shops In uansf"onnlng the lives of and run for safety. BUI WI' teaming populacc.. some wt:n: unlucky as the He further staled that tng Ii one or Its pr10nties flood and storm destroyed -In the area oflabour Input ...-Itl! a \icv.' 10 attain a pur- their shops and proper· ________________ __ In agrtcull\ lf'C produCUOll. ~ppmoOQ~! poseful ____________________________ gtov.'lh and deYCl lies.