The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) has concluded a Data Validation Mission to Edo State Project Management Unit with visits to gully and erosion sites in the State.
The sites visited were the remediated Queen Ede gully site; the Urora Flood Alleviation and Protection Construction Works site; the Edo College gully remediation site and the Gapiona Flood Alleviation and Protection Construction Works.
The Team also visited the locations of the business enterprises of the Community Interest Groups (CIGs) which are being funded by the Project as part of its livelihood enhancement programme.
During the site visits, the officials of the NEWMAP Federal Project Management Unit (FPMU) interacted extensively with Project-Affected Persons and beneficiaries with a view to ascertaining the impact of NEWMAP in their lives and in the communities.
At Queen Ede site, the Chairman of the Site Committee, Barrister Sunday Imolode and Rev. Father Richard Ofere of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church expressed deep gratitude to NEWMAP for doing what seemed impossible in their lifetime.
Barrister Imolode spoke on the diligent manner the entire civil works and livelihood enhancement activities were carried out at the site and stressed that much impact had been made in their lives.
Rev. Father Ofere, who has become the face of NEWMAP in Edo State, spoke glowingly of the relief, as well as numerous social and economic benefits of the Queen Ede gully remediation to the people of the community.
The operators of the Queen Ede Poultry Farm, run by one of the CIGs, stated that the business had made a difference in the lives of the people of the area, adding that they had also acquired much knowledge of poultry farming.
Several other Project beneficiaries expressed appreciation to NEWMAP for their rescue from untold hardship and sleepless nights occasioned by unending flood and gully erosion.
Team Leaders of the Data Validation Mission, Communication and Mobilization Specialist, Dr. Adebayo Thomas; Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Mukhtar Yakubu Tanko and Environmental Safeguards Specialist, Mrs. Theresa Ajiboye commended the SPMU for their efforts and made a number of suggestions on actions that should be taken to improve on what had been done. They stressed the need for installation of sign posts by the SPMU and contractors in all the sites and other operational areas and also the need to maintain a zero-tolerance on issues of safeguards.
On his part, the State Project Coordinator of Edo NEWMAP, Dr. Tom Obaseki expressed satisfaction with the progress made by NEWMAP in the State over the years.
He explained that Edo NEWMAP was at the moment handling about ten sites in different parts of the State and expressed joy with the pace of work at the various sites.
On the Gapiona Flood Alleviation and Protection Construction Works, Dr. Obaseki stated that the contract was geared towards solving the perennial flooding that had devastated the Government Reservation Area (GRA) and other parts of Benin City, rendering many families homeless over the years.
The Project Coordinator said the Gapiona project was made up of six ponds to control the speed of water, adding that the target is to take the flood water to Ogba River.
He thanked the visiting Team for going round the sites and coming up with useful suggestions and assured the Mission that the SPMU would carry out the suggested actions accordingly.
The Data Validation Mission, which is a nationwide activity, is aimed at validating available data on project implementation and assessing the impact of NEWMAP activities on the lives of the beneficiaries.
VC, AAU APPLAUDS NEWMAP
The Vice-Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo has commended the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP for coming to the rescue of the university from a devastating gully.
Prof. Onimawo was speaking in his office while receiving members of Edo NEWMAP delegation who were in the University campus as part of their Implementation Mission to Edo Central Senatorial District.
The Vice-Chancellor of the Edo State-owned University remarked that gully erosion was a major threat to lives and infrastructure on campus, especially buildings that were on the waterways.
He expressed gratitude to his predecessor, the late Prof. Mrs. Cordelia Agbebaku who drew the attention of the State Government to the problem of gully on campus and called for necessary assistance.
Prof. Onimawo thanked the State Government under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki for the prompt response to their distress call, culminating in the intervention by NEWMAP and expressed confidence that the remediation work would bring to an end the challenge of gully erosion in the school.
The Vice-Chancellor used the opportunity to highlight the on-going transformation in the university in the past few years, including the construction of four new faculty buildings and the ultra-modern administrative building being constructed by the State Government.
He informed his visitors of the huge success recorded in the computer-based examinations and the electronic voting system introduced for the conduct of SUG elections.
Speaking earlier, the leader of the Edo NEWMAP delegation and State Project Coordinator, Dr. Tom Obaseki informed the Vice-Chancellor and other principal officers of the University that following the official report of the gully by the former VC, the process of engineering designs and other technical details had been completed and contract awarded for the civil works.
Dr. Obaseki further informed the University officials that construction work would commence in the month of February 2020 and solicited for the support of the institution in ensuring a hitch-free intervention.
He assured the University that the contractors would deliver a quality job that would bring to an end the untold hardship and anxiety among staff and students occasioned by flood and gully erosion.
The NEWMAP delegation and the University officials later inspected the gully site where the Edo NEWMAP Project Engineer, Edwin Asemota-Ero explained the scope of scope of work.
