News

OPINION: Interrogating The Simple Agenda, Erosion And Flooding In Edo

Published

5 years ago

July 24, 2020

Don Ofure Osehobo

In most parts of Benin City, today, the fear of rains is the beginning of wisdom. The reason is that whenever it rains, almost every part of the city gets flooded and residences are turned into swamps; some for days and weeks and others, months. As a result, tales of woe fill the lips of most residents as flood waters envelope their homes, overwhelm the surroundings, and destroy properties like cars, and household items like furniture among others.

Few years ago, the Edo State government revived the Benin City Masterplan and articulated the Storm water project to deal with the perennial problems of flooding and erosion. The project was designed to channel the flood waters through artificial underground canals. However, Governor Godwin Obaseki rather than continuing with the project, abandoned it. Unfortunately too, the PDP of which he is now a member has never articulated any plan for the flood menace in the state capital or the other communities. It will be therefore be disastrous for the state, if the party finds itself back in power.

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the Edo APC governorship candidate in this year’s election has a solution for this erosion and flood menace, which is a source of concern, not only for residents in the state capital but the entire state. He has aptly captioned and enunciated it under the heading, “Infrastructure Development and Urban Renewal Programme” in his Manifesto of Hope called Simple Agenda. With this plan, the new Edo state with Pastor Ize-Iyamu as Chief Executive, will adopt an integrated approach with new ways of building public works systems that is both cost and resource effective.

As part of his commitment, he will review the Benin Storm Water Project for speedy completion to ensure that the problem of perennial flooding in the state capital is taken care of. In addition, major erosion reclamation projects and sites in the state will be diligently tackled to their completion stage while his government honours all outstanding obligations to the World Bank and other relevant agencies.

This is will be backed up with the provision of both primary and secondary drains to accompany roads, to ensure the proper channelization of floodwaters to appropriate receptacles instead of the present practice where floodwaters are directed to residential or inhabited areas .

Towards this end, all the major roads and streets within Benin City and the 18 local government headquarters will be asphalted and in most cases, accompanied with walkways, drains and streetlights, in an unprecedented urban renewal scheme. The walkways plan to include bicycle tracks so as to encourage cycling, as most distances within the metropolis can be embarked on with bicycles as roads should be for all users and not motorists alone. In what the Simple Agenda envisage, even car owners would wish to own bicycles. This also will infuse a new culture for the environment and lead to bicycle plants/job creation and a reduction in fuel consumption. The idea is to bring what has worked well in China, Holland and the Scandinavian countries to Edo state. This will also help in no small way to erase the misconception that bicycles are for the poor.

On the reconstruction and rehabilitation of existing road networks in the state, the Simple Agenda objective is to bring many of Edo’s neglected communities back to life by building strategic roads, to link them with Highways or Express roads so they serve as alternative routes, when necessary.

As for Local Government roads, the agenda has a policy plan for collaboration between Local Government Council Chairmen and the State Government. This will be achieved by restoring autonomy to Local Governments in Edo state, so they can be encouraged to spend significant percentage of their allocations on road rehabilitation. In more specific terms, adequate funding will be extended to roads and drains at the local government areas, such that 10km of asphalted roads with accompanying road infrastructure will be constructed in each of the 18 Local Government Councils. Also the State Government under the leadership of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu will construct an average of 300km of roads to link major towns with the state capital. In addition, under the Simple Agenda, communities shall be encouraged to embark on self-help projects to which the LGAs and the state government shall contribute meaningfully.

Pastor Ize-Iyamu as a youth, saw this strategy working successfully during the period Dr Samuel Ogbemudia’s administration held sway in the good old days of Bendel State. His government will resuscitate this approach and take it to the highest level of community awareness and active participation.

With regards to all existing road construction projects, Pastor Ize-Iyamu hopes to complete all of them. With the Simple Agenda, he deliberately plan to create new towns and settlements around Benin City. He also plans a second bridge to link Upper St. Saviour and Ikpoba Hill not only to reduce traffic bottlenecks on the Ikpoba Hill axis and Murtala Muhammed Way junction of Sokponba road but also to boost commercial and industrial activities in the area.

The Simple Agenda also contains the plan to extend the Airport Road beyond the Iyekogba bridge to Evbuodia Utagba Village to join Ekenwan Barrack Road by Ojemai Farms. This means that all vehicles coming to Ring Road from Ekenwan Barrack, Ugbine, and even Ugbiyoko axis will access the Ring Road through his extended Evbuodia/Airport Road.

To ensure that all the projects for erosion and flood control, road construction and rehabilitation remain in good conditions all year round, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu will send a bill for the establishment of the Edo State Road Maintenance Agency to the State legislature. When established the agency, will have full complements of earth moving equipment at its state capital headquarters and all zonal offices in each of the three Senatorial Districts. The agency in collaboration with the State Ministry of Works, will have full responsibility for continuous road maintenance and rehabilitation across the state. The objective is reduce cases of road failures and the huge costs of fixing them.

From the above, it is obvious that the objective of the infrastructure development and urban renewal programme in the Simple Agenda is to bequeath to Edo state, durable physical structures and facilities that will promote decent living standards. Moreover, the deliberate policy is to eliminate waste and bequeath a state-of-the-art infrastructure across the state that will be affordable to maintain so that future generations of Edolites can utilize it and be proud of it.

Ofure Osehobo, a journalist writes from Benin City.

News

Tinubu Swears In Two New Ministers, Holds First FEC Meeting Since July

Published

4 minutes ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday administered the oath of office to Dr Bernard Doro and Dr Kingsley Udeh as ministers, officially inducting them into the Federal Executive Council.

The ceremony took place at 1:52 p.m. inside the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja, just minutes before the commencement of the FEC meeting, the first since July 2025.

Thursday’s swearing-in restores cabinet representation for Plateau and Enugu states, both of which had been without ministerial presence in the past few weeks.

Doro, a UK-trained clinical practitioner and seasoned pharmaceutical and public health administrator, was nominated by Tinubu on October 21 to replace Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, who vacated the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction after emerging as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress on July 31, 2025.

Doro, who hails from Kwall, Bassa LGA of Plateau State, has over two decades of combined experience in clinical medicine, pharmacy, and IT-driven health strategy.

According to the Presidency, he holds multiple degrees, including in Pharmacy, Law, and Advanced Clinical Practice, and has served extensively within the UK’s National Health Service.

Meanwhile, Udeh, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Enugu State until his nomination, replaces Uche Nnaji, the former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, who resigned on October 7, 2025, following controversies over his academic records at the University of Nigeria, Nsuka.

Udeh, recently conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was nominated by the President on November 4 and was confirmed by the Senate soon afterwards.

Their swearing-in brings Tinubu’s cabinet size to 48 ministers.

Following the brief ceremony, Tinubu presided over the FEC meeting, the first since July 31.

Before the meeting went into a closed session, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, informed the council that Nigeria’s return to the international capital market had drawn strong investor confidence, with the 2.35-billion-dollar Eurobond oversubscribed by 453 per cent, attracting 13 billion dollars in orders.

“The next phase of reforms will remove barriers holding back investors. We will review tariffs and import restrictions to stimulate productivity and investment,” he stated.

Edun added that a detailed review of the Federation and federal balance sheets is underway to optimise Asset Management for inclusive growth.

“We are improving fiscal reporting and budget realism, tightening expenditure frameworks and ensuring reforms gains are made available to all Nigerians,” he said.

Tinubu welcomed the outcome, noting that despite political headwinds, Nigeria continues to engage global partners, strengthen its diplomatic ties, and rebuild confidence in its economy.

He said the task ahead remains to defeat terrorism and deliver a peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous Nigeria.

News

Anambra Poll: Soludo Declares Friday Work-free Day For Workers

Published

37 minutes ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

Ahead of the Anambra State governorship election, slated for November 8, 2025, the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has declared Friday, November 7, 2025, as a work-free day for all civil and public servants in the state.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Head of Service, Theodore Igwegbe, said the governor approved the work-free day to afford workers ample time to travel to their respective locations for participation in the election.

Igwegbe said the state government views the active participation of its workforce in the electoral process as a “civic responsibility” and a vital contribution to good governance and the development of democracy in the state.

The statement read in part: “The Anambra State government has graciously approved the declaration of Friday, November 7, 2025, as a work-free day for all civil and public servants in the state.

“This will afford workers ample time to travel to their respective locations for participation in the Anambra State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, November 8, 2025.

“The state government views the active participation of its workforce in the electoral process as a civic responsibility and a vital contribution to good governance and the development of democracy in the state.

“Consequently, all political appointees, permanent secretaries, and heads of ministries, departments, and agencies are hereby requested to bring the contents of this circular to the attention of their staff and ensure full compliance. Please be guided accordingly.”

News

VIDEO: It’s Pure Genocide, APC’s Adamu Garba Backs Trump On Killings In Nigeria

Published

1 hour ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Adamu Garba, has backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that there is an ongoing genocide in Nigeria.

Garba, in a video interview with Trust Tv shared on Facebook on Wednesday while reacting to the United States’ recent designation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, said that, judging by the number of lives lost in violent attacks across the country, the situation fits the description of genocide.

He recalled that in 2014, when the All Progressives Congress was still in opposition, some of its members visited the White House to seek assistance over what they described then as the mass killing of Christians in Nigeria.

He said, “In fact, in 2014, Nigerian opposition party, then the APC, were in the White House seeking for the same help on the same Christian genocide as a fallout of the Chibok girls. This is established.

“The second thing again is that even most recently, we acquired $346 million worth of weaponry from the US and we are trying to send our military personnel to go and train as a factor of diplomatic relationship between Nigeria and the US.

“And US has been consistently, in addition to other partners, listed as supporting countries to help us in eradication of terrorism. And don’t forget, it is a United Nations Convention on Counterterrorism that empowers the United States to become the global front or focal point in fighting against terrorism.

“And wherever a word terrorism was defined in a given area, that means US have rights to protect, they call it a responsibility to protect R2P. They have right to invoke that R2P to get into that country and destroy that terrorism.”

He added that Nigeria should demonstrate willingness to partner with the U.S. in eradicating terrorism rather than dismissing the country’s offer of assistance.

“So what we should show in our own case in Nigeria is that we should show commitment and willingness to partner to eliminate the threat of terrorism, not completely condemn a hand that is coming to help us and then put a motion forward. We can negotiate with them,” he said.

He urged the Nigerian government to engage the U.S. diplomatically, negotiate responsibly, and acknowledge the scale of killings rather than dismiss the concerns outright.

“We can tell them, give us the weapons responsibly. We can discuss with them and acknowledge that this genocide is taking place. Yes, they say Christian genocide.

“Now, we can justify to them that look, it’s not only genocide, it’s not only Christians, Muslims also are affected,” he added.

Garba noted that innocent citizens continue to be killed in their homes and communities without protection, adding that both Christians and Muslims have been victims of repeated attacks.

“When I look at the damages, when you look at the total number of the people that have been killed over time in Nigeria and they are killed defenceless in villages, sleeping in their homes, then what can you call this for God’s sake?

“I think it’s actually pure genocide because you just come and kill people just like that. And this thing has been happening. Several villages in Kasina, destroyed. Several villages in Sokoto, gone. Several villages in Zamfara, every day,” he said not only Christians, Muslims also are affected,” he added.

Garba noted that innocent citizens continue to be killed in their homes and communities without protection, adding that both Christians and Muslims have been victims of repeated attacks.

Watch the video here