How Emma Nweke Tackled Flooding, Water Crisis and Environmental Hazards Across 15 Wards In Oyi LGA

By Raymond Ozoji, Awka

Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State has been enmeshed in environmental challenges such as flooding, blocked drainages, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and poor waste management, coupled with a lack of potable drinking water for the people.
Residents have had to travel long distances from their homes to fetch water from streams for drinking, cooking and other domestic purposes, irrespective of whether the stream water is contaminated or not.

Flooding has also been the worst nightmare of the people of Oyi Local Government Area, as residents testified that whenever it rained, flooding became the order of the day because they could no longer access their farmlands or transport their farm produce to the markets, as floodwaters submerged village pathways.
These were the sufferings endured by the five communities and 15 political wards of Oyi Local Government Area for many decades until the advent of Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Nweke, the incumbent Chairman of the council area.
An independent tour of Oyi Local Government Area conducted by this journalist revealed that the people are now happy that the council chairman has rescued them from years of perennial flooding, saved them from drinking contaminated water and addressed other public health hazards.
Responses from community members during the investigation revealed that Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Nweke has left indelible impressions in their hearts because his interventions have saved their communities from catastrophe and total collapse.
This journalist, who took time to tour the five communities of Oyi Local Government Area, found out that the chairman began his interventions at the local government headquarters in Nteje, where he renovated and refurbished the council secretariat, giving the complex a befitting status.
Leader of the Oyi Congress of Councillors, Rt. Hon. Emeka Nwabude, who spoke to this journalist at Nteje Ward 4, noted that the Executive Mayor rescued about eight villages that had been experiencing flooding for over a decade.
He said that the Congress appealed to the Mayor, who responded proactively with the construction of a massive culvert in the area to control flooding and save Achalla, Agba, Umuazu and other villages from the traumatic experiences of flooding.
At Awkuzu Ward 2, specifically Ezinkwo Obinuno Awkuzu, it was the same tale of how flooding ravaged the community for many years until Oyi Local Government, under Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Nweke, intervened with the construction of another gigantic culvert to save about three villages from the disaster.
Investigations at Awkuzu Ward 4 revealed how the incumbent Chairman and Mayor of Oyi Local Government Area constructed a culvert along Hon. Ossy Ilozue Road to end decades of flooding in the area, which had affected the traditional ruler of Awkuzu, Prof. Anikwenze, and a former chairman of Oyi Local Government Area, Hon. Ossy Ilozue.
According to the Head of Works Department of Oyi Local Government, Arch. Onwubufo Onyekachi, the floodwater along Hon. Ossy Ilozue Road formed what he described as a pool where children used to swim. He said that the road was impassable, such that the traditional ruler of Awkuzu town had to resort to alternative routes to access his house, which took a longer time.
He emphasised that the flooding on Ossy Ilozue Road grounded petty traders and farmers because the road connected Nkwo-Awkuzu Market and other villages in the ward. He added that the villagers heaved a sigh of relief when Mayor Emma Nweke constructed the culvert on the road to control flooding and ease movement.
Further investigations at Awkuzu Ward 4 revealed the community water scheme at Amudala Village Square, executed by Emma Nweke’s administration.
The HOD of Works equally disclosed that the Chairman extended the rural water scheme to Nteje, Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Ogbunike and Umunya respectively.
He told this journalist that the Mayor saw the dire need to respond to the yearnings of the people and provided a sustainable source of clean water for them because the villagers, according to him, travelled very long distances to get water from unprotected sources. He added that the beauty of the rural water scheme is that it is solar-powered and depends on green energy for its sustenance.
A resident in the area who identified himself as Mr. Richard Ideho said they were happy with the project because they now have access to clean, potable water, unlike in the past when they had to trek miles away from their homes in search of water.
Another resident who identified himself as the Councillor representing Awkuzu Ward 3 (Ifite-Awkuzu), Engr. Emmanuel Aniemena, affirmed that the water project at Amudala Village Square is a motorised borehole and has eased the stress of travelling to distant places to fetch water from streams.
Aniemena, who described the water scheme as a good project, noted that the chairman replicated it in all five communities of Oyi Local Government Area, such that the 15 wards of the council area are beneficiaries of the rural water scheme.
The tour of projects in Oyi Local Government Area executed by Emma Nweke’s administration took the investigation to Ifite-Umueri-Olamme-Transformer Road, where Arch. Onwubufo said that the Mayor constructed the road to assist the people of Awkuzu, especially those transporting their farm produce to Nkwo-Awkuzu Market.

He said the road was terribly bad and impassable before the intervention, such that people living along the road almost fled from their homes due to the menace of flooding.

But the rapid response on the road by the Mayor, according to him, saved the situation.

At Umunya Ward 2, Ezi-Umunya, precisely Udoamaka Estate, and Green Gate Estate, Nkwelle-Ezunaka, this journalist found out that the Chairman had eased the sufferings and hardships of inhabitants of the estates through the construction of culverts to tackle and control flooding in the areas.
Meanwhile, the same intervention is being replicated at Ward 2, Nkwelle-Ezunaka, where the Head of Works Department said that Emma Nweke’s administration is controlling flooding with the construction of a massive culvert to end the catastrophic experience in the area, adding that whenever it rained, the whole place was flooded.
A shop owner in the area who identified herself as Kosisochukwu Oneh said it was usually a disaster whenever it rained because the magnitude of flooding in the area stalled both human and vehicular movements, even as she thanked the local government authority for coming to their rescue.
At Amuche Village Square, Nkwelle-Ezunaka Ward 2, where Emma Nweke’s administration instituted another solar-powered borehole water facility, the villagers expressed joy and profound gratitude to the Oyi Local Government Authority for the intervention.
Mrs. Eucharia Okoro, who spoke to this journalist about the water project sited at Amuche Village Square, said she had fetched water from it and was grateful to the council authority for providing potable drinking water for them.
Mrs. Okoro attested to the fact that the water scheme is beneficial and helpful to them because she has personally ended years of having to buy sachet water just to bathe. She added that she now has access to clean water every day through the borehole water project sited in the community.
The tour, which covered solid-waste evacuation at the Ezinkwo Awkuzu axis, where students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University have their hostels, also featured the desilting of drainages along the Oyi sections of the Onitsha-Enugu Federal Highway. It also covered the replacement of vandalised streetlights along the Oyi axis of the Chinua Achebe International Airport with solar-powered streetlights, as well as the provision of metal waste bins to curb indiscriminate dumping of refuse across Oyi Local Government Area.
The Oyi council chairman, Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Nweke, who told this journalist that his interventions were not limited to physical infrastructure, said his human capital development strides could not be overemphasised, as his educational endowment programmes had continued to yield massive positive results.
Nweke, who told this journalist that he was the first elected Mayor of Oyi Local Government Area, said his administration instituted an endowment fund through which First Class graduates received N1 million in prize money from the Oyi Local Government Authority to encourage them and reiterate that education is very important in the life of every individual. He added that it was the kind of legacy he would pass on to his successor.
He said he was the first chairman to build an asphalted road with drainages in Oyi Local Government Area since its creation. The road, according to him, is the Ifite-Umueri-Olamme-Transformer-St. Michael Catholic Church Road in the council area. He added that his vision is to make Oyi Local Government Area better than he met it.
Nweke emphasised that he instituted projects in all five communities and 15 political wards that comprise Oyi Local Government Area and that the projects were initiated and executed in accordance with the most pressing needs and demands of the people.
Although the tour of the projects revealed that they were not make-believe projects but verifiable, concrete projects sited at strategic locations across the council area, Dr. Emma Nweke stated that those were the kind of legacies he wanted to bequeath to his successor and the people of Oyi Local Government Area.
The outgoing Mayor, who told this journalist that he came, saw and conquered, thanked Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo for giving him the opportunity to serve his people without blemishes.