Former Vice President of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s country home in Oko community, Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State is at the verge of caving in following the withdrawal of the construction company, Rhino Construction Services (RCS) from a gully erosion site.

The construction company which was working on a sites in Nanka and Oko communities where several hectares of land have been washed away by erosion, pulled out of the site on completion of the first phase of the project.

According to a staff of the construction company who spoke on condition of anonymity, the company decided to pull out after the completion of the first phase of the job and waited for over a year for the commencement of the second phase of the project.

“We completed this project since June last year, and we have even done extra work, hoping that the Federal Government will approve the commencement of the second phase of the job, but from what we gathered, the Anambra State government has written to the Federal Government asking them to hands off the job as the World Bank was taking over.

“What we have done in this first phase of the job can sustain this project for another 10 years, but the Federal Government needs to approve palliative works on the project for it to last that long. This is because we all know that the World Bank will not commence work on the site immediately.

“Procurement process for projects takes years, and even around Anambra here, there are some other projects that the World Bank is handling that have lasted years without being awarded, and it would not bye-pass those ones to award this one.”

The source added that the period that would be spent for the commencement of the World Bank contract would hamper the work already done on the project if palliative work was not done on it.

He noted that it would be foolhardy for government to leave a N2 billion project to collapse because of lack of palliative that won’t cost much.

He maintained that it was specified in the contract paper that the job would come in phases.

“We have since then waited to be mobilised for the second phase and that is not coming, so we have to move our equipment out,” he stated.

The ancestral home of the former Vice President which has been on the danger list for two years now has already been affected by the gully as a result of the rains, and may cave in if nothing urgent is done.

When News Express visited the place, residents of both communities decried their fate as the company prepare to pull out of the site.

In an interview with some of the residents, they expressed sadness about the refusal of government to commence the second phase, and even said it would be more catastrophic for Nanka and Oko communities if the company leaves.

A former member of the House of Representatives and erstwhile aide of Ekwueme, Chief Handel Okoli said the decision by the company to leave will simply throw the two communities into further troubles.

He said that the community would have recorded a huge disaster if not for the work done on the area by the construction company.

“If not for the job they did, more houses would have collapsed into the gully. Dr. Ekwueme has tried his best to reach out to President Buhari over his threatened home. He has even paid a visit and written several letters, all to no avail.

“I want to say that if government allows Rhino to leave the site without any palliative work, it will wash away the work so far done, which cost government N2billion already. Again, I do not think it is wise for Anambra government to have demanded for the World Bank to take over the project, because we all know how long procurement process takes in their jobs.

“This site you see is the most radical erosion site in the whole of Africa, and so many lives have been lost to it already, same for houses.

“You can see the size of Oko and Nanka land that has been lost to the gully, and we want to beg the Federal Government to continue with the second phase instead of handing it to the World Bank,” he stated.

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