In particular while the North is contending with an unprecedented challenge despite having a tougher landscape with greater level of resistance, the more erosion prone South East and South South are having their very existence threatened by the menace. The case with Edo state is, for several reasons, very peculiar.
Situated along the country‘sl ow belt region, the state has had its fair share of the destructive impact. However, for reasons of the much talked about rise in global temperature, which resulted in warmer climate, it became one of the recipients of a massive volume of rainfall that recently inundated not just its coastal belts but also a number of areas in the hinterland hitherto free from erosion.
Thus, the state has had to contend with attendant challenges that left a number of communities previously conversant mild erosion becoming so ravaged that residents were forced to relocate to safer grounds.
Whereas the state was in the past able to handle the challenge, the scale of the challenge under review was so overwhelming that it practically put the state on its kneels. This is evident in case of Queen Ede, in Ogbesanwan quarters, within Benin City, the state capital.
Determined to find a lasting solution to the menace, the government set aside the sum of N500 million to fund a rescue project.
However, due to the fact that the amount is grossly inadequate for the project, it began the search for a viable partner counterpart with the ability to provide counterpart funding. It approached the Federal government with an appeal to have the project bankrolled with counterpart funding from the ecological funds but it was turned it down.
The state governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, made this point while receiving officials of the bank. According to him, “We have also talked with the federal government to draw from the ecological fund to deal with it. Again that has not been successful. Our final hope now is the bank. We are hoping that you will help us out and have it fixed.”
Next, the state went in the direction of the World Bank, the global financial institution not known for giving consideration to frivolous administrations.
Thankfully, the bank received the request with open hands and as a mark of its readiness to do the needful, sent its assessment team to Benin City, the state capital, with a view to ascertaining the required level of assistance.
So far, if the team’s timeouts visit, inspection of the affected areas and comments made thereafter are anything to go by, it appears clear that the state’s request for assistance is not only receiving prompt and favourable responses, hope is rising that at last, succour may be on its way.
Interestingly, the partnership interest shown by the global financial institution may not be unconnected with its conviction that the state government is genuinely committed to carrying out development programme with direct impact on the lives of the people.
Not least important is the seriousness with which the governor has undertaken the search for a viable partner. Put mildly, both qualities are no doubt the stuff required to instill confidence on discerning partners.
Given the statement made by Benoit Bosque, leader of the bank’s visiting team that the state has proven its seriousness by being one of the few to seriously approached it for assistance, it can be deduced that both factors played important roles that swayed the bank into declaring its readiness to assist the state.
According to Bosque, “Edo state is among the first runners. You are doing your bit. There are still a few steps to be taken. I am sure that soon most of the state level actions would have been taken by ensuring that full management of the state would be in place and the effectiveness condition would be met very soon. We expect that Edo would receive the first installment of the preparation advance and finally, the cash will start flowing from Washington to Benin City.”
Such comment cannot but be seen as one of the most reassuring gifts the people of Edo state can hope for in terms of real time governance. It is doubly assuring because in accepting to assist the state government, the global financial institution is passing another important vote of confidence on the comrade governor’s administration, further reinforcing the widely held belief that in terms of impact, the state under his leadership has witnessed the greatest number of real time people-oriented development projects. Indeed, the expectation now is that besides upping the ante in the governor‘s confidence vote, the expected assistance will provide a permanent solution to the threatened areas.
ing to drive Queen Ede and its environs into extinction. Certainly, the task will not be an easy one but as the governor puts it, the task is before the bank. “I have come to show them the problem and they are coming to carry out a full study. This is not like putting up PHCN or generator. You need to carry out proper study before you can start to address the problem. There is no overnight solution.”
The governor’s determination to find a viable partner goes a long way in proving that his commitment to delivering quality development services to the people is limitless. This is a position in which many observers of the state’s development evolution are united.
In the main, they have often likened his performance to that of Chief Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, the man given the credit for laying the foundation for the present Edo state. Until his coming, they observed, those who held democratic leadership positions simply chose to pursue selfish interests rather than build on the legacies of the former military administrator as the comrade is doing.
Indeed, his decision to solicit the assistance of the World Bank is another proof of his resolve to make the state the cynosure of all eyes in terms of real development.
Mr. ERNEST OMOARELOJIE, a social critic, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.
AS a country, Nigeria has its fair share of ecological challenges. The most obvious indicator is that there are in each of the six geo political zones evident manifestaions of the devastation which is more or less threatening to overerun a huge chunk of the country‘s landscape. In particular while the North is contending with an unprecedented challenge despite having a tougher landscape with greater level of resistance, the more erosion prone South East and South South are having their very existence threatened by the menace. The case with Edo state is, for several reasons, very peculiar.
Situated along the country‘sl ow belt region, the state has had its fair share of the destructive impact. However, for reasons of the much talked about rise in global temperature, which resulted in warmer climate, it became one of the recipients of a massive volume of rainfall that recently inundated not just its coastal belts but also a number of areas in the hinterland hitherto free from erosion. Thus, the state has had to contend with attendant challenges that left a number of communiities previously conversant mild erosion becoming so ravaged that residents were forced to relocate to safer grounds. Whereas the state was in the past able to handle the challenge, the scale of the challenge under review was so overwhelming that it practically put the state on its kneels. This is evident in case of Queen Ede, in Ogbesanwan quarters, within Benin City, the state capital.
Determined to find a lasting solution to the menace, the government set aside the sum of N500 million to fund a rescue project. However, due to the fact that the amount is grossly inadequate for the project, it began the search for a viable partner counterpart with the ability to provide counterpart funding. It approached the Federal government with an appeal to have the project bankrolled with counterpart funding from the ecological funds but it was turned it down. The state governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, made this point while receiving officials of the bank. According to him, “We have also talked with the federal government to draw from the ecological fund to deal with it. Again that has not been successful. Our final hope now is the bank. We are hoping that you will help us out and have it fixed.”
Next, the state went in the direction of the World Bank, the global financial institution not known for giving consideration to frivolous administrations. Thankfully, the bank received the request with open hands and as a mark of its readiness to do the needful, sent its assessment team to Benin City, the state capital, with a view to ascertaining the required level of assistance. So far, if the team’s timeous visit, inspection of the affected areas and comments made thereafter are anything to go by, it appears clear that the state’s request for assistance is not only receiving prompt and favourable responses, hope is rising that at last, succour may be on its way.
Interestingly, the partnership interest shown by the global financial institution may not be unconnected with its conviction that the state government is genuinely committed to carrying out development programme with direct impact on the lives of the people. Not least important is the seriousness with which the governor has undertaken the search for a viable partner. Put mildly, both qualities are no doubt the stuff required to instill confidence on discerning partners. Given the statement made by Benoit Bosque, leader of the bank’s visiting team that the state has proven its seriousness by being one of the few to seriously approached it for assistance, it can be deduced that both factors played important roles that swayed the bank into declaring its readiness to assist the state. According to Bosque, “Edo state is among the first runners. You are doing your bit. There are still a few steps to be taken. I am sure that soon most of the state level actions would have been taken by ensuring that full management of the state would be in place and the effectiveness condition would be met very soon. We expect that Edo would receive the first instalment of the preparation advance and finally, the cash will start flowing from Washington to Benin City.”
Such comment cannot but be seen as one of the most reassuring gifts the people of Edo state can hope for in terms of real time governance. It is doubly assuring because in accepting to assist the state government, the global financial institution is passing another important vote of confidence on the comrade governor’s administration, further reinforcing the widely held belief that in terms of impact, the state under his leadership has witnessed the greatest number of real time people-oriented development projects. Indeed, the expectation now is that besides upping the ante in the governor‘s confidence vote, the expected assistance will provide a permanent solution to the threatened areas.
ing to drive Queen Ede and its environs into extinction. Certainly, the task will not be an easy one but as the governor puts it, the task is before the bank. “I have come to show them the problem and they are coming to carry out a full study. This is not like putting up PHCN or generator. You need to carry out proper study before you can start to address the problem. There is no overnight solution.”
The governor’s determination to find a viable partner goes a long way in proving that his commitment to delivering quality development services to the people is limitless. This is a position in which many observers of the state’s development evolution are united. In the main, they have often likened his performance to that of Chief Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, the man given the credit for laying the foundation for the present Edo state. Until his coming, they observed, those who held democratic leadership positions simply chose to pursue selfish interests rather than build on the legacies of the former military administrator as the comrade is doing. Indee, his decision to solicit the assistance of the World Bank is another proof of his resolve to make the state the cynosure of all eyes in terms of real development.
