..how family climbed ladder to avoid been submerged in Ibadan
Wednesday July 26, 2023
The sound of rain for residents of Sooko-Elega Community in Lagelu West Local Council Development Area in Oyo State is gradually becoming a bad news no matter the time of the it pours.
The over four years neglect of the Government both at the state level and LCDA has now become a nightmare and source of fear for the innocent residents of residents of the area who like any other residents of the state are to enjoy key obligation from their goveenment but for now, reverse is the case.
Going by the records made available to this reporter, the last time any serious dredging activities happened around the river was during the administration of late Governor Abiola Ajimobi.
In the last four years, residents of Sooko-Elega Community have resorted to self help under the now popular ” community effort” which over the last four years have shown the insensitivity of the current administration in Oyo State to whatever plight of the residents of the state.
Even though the development is yet to claim live which no one will pray for but lives are being lost in the community environs, where people had reportedly lost their lives while houses are being submerged, it is indeed a sad take of neglect by the government.
A resident of the area while narrating their unpleasant ordeal said, “in 2016, there was heavy downpour around July, which forced almost all residents of the community to stayed in their houses including students. Then we contacted the Oyo State government through the Ministry of Environment. The ministry came immediately to dredge the river as immediate step.
The ministry also approved eight big rings as replacement for culvert that washed away but the community could only carry six to our community because of the many difficult logistics.
The community fixed it and the then government dredged the river from Elewuro through our community to Jenriyin every year, so we don’t have issues no matter how heavy it rained.”
Many of the residents disclosed that since the assumption to office of Governor Seyi Makinde, no dredging has taken place. They said they had contacted the ministry of environment severally but were told no provision for dredging by the ministry.
“In 2016, we got to IUFMP, they also said we should write, which we did, but they said there was a long list already of places that needed their attention that it cannot reach our turn in 2/3 years. Till today, it hasn’t still reach our turn.
When we contacted them yesterday, they said we should go and bring another letter…
The bridge the community did then with the ogunpa ring is still intact, very high to contain any volume of water, but because the river was not dredged for years it’s not deep and wide enough for heavy volume of water and the river is not well channelled to the rings so it overflows on both sides of the bridge and people will have to wait for hours after heavy downpour before they can cross the bridge.
There has been incidents of the river carrying people away before, fish farmers in the area loosing millions of naira investment in ponds even with this recent flooding.
That of Sunday was the worst since we got to the area, our kitchen and bathroom were flooded for the first time, thank God we were home to notice early, it could have spread into the whole house.
A neighbor had to climb the ladder with his family member when the water level keep rising.”
Indeed, the above narration was a major experience by many Ibadan residents in the last few days of continuous downpour in Oyo State.
Residents of Sooko-Elega continue to wait for Governor Seyi Makinde and his agents to come to their rescue and do that which he premised his Omi Titun 2.0 campaign on or send his “Ajele” in Lagelu West Local Council Development Area to at least put in place reasonable preventive measure to forestall disaster in the area.
It is important to let them know that Politics is gone, now is the time for Governance.
