By Dr Innocent Chidumebi Okonkwo.
The Omabala area have been agog with the cheering news that a business man and an indigene of Ivite Aguleri is creating an access road and constructing small bridges where necessary to the Ezu River. The cheery news was first revealed by Ivite Aguleri Rulling Council on February 23, 2024, when they went for an inspection tour at Odene Ivite area.
Ezu River is part of the lower Omabala River and a tributary of River Niger in Anambra State.
The project of P&H dredging Ltd, a company owned by Prince Hilary Anekwe Nwa Anekwe entails that the waterways will be dredged at appropriate points and connected to the big river.
This will open up the river for enhanced fishing, sand mining and maritime trade activities in Omabala area.
The project also has huge potentials for the gas industrialisation of Anambra State because of its proximity to the huge gas deposits in the Aguleri Otu area and attracts more investments to the area.
This welcome development is coming with the major challenge that the only access road to the site is not constructed.
Therefore, the private company is now doing a lot of palliative works on the swampy road to make it motorable for the tippers who would be coming to buy sand from the site.
It is, therefore, remarkable and commendable that this project is handled single handedly by a private individual and a support is needed by the government for such project which would boost the economic activity of the area.
Above all, we call on Governor Soludo who is well known for focusing on economic priority projects to consider the optimum impact on this project on socio-economic development of the people of Omabala and Anambra State at large.
Without doubt, the dredging of Ezu River represents a major milestone in the economic advancement of Anambra State and, by extension, the entire South-Eastern Nigeria.
This is obviously a significant boost to Soludo's vision and determination to grow the economy of Anambra State. As the economic import of the dredging of Ezu River is immeasurable. Although the economic significance of this project has been obvious for decades, it has, however, taken the vision, tenacity and determination of a private individual of Anambra State to push it across the line.
Already, preliminary work on the project, including topographic and hydrographic survey of the proposed route alignment as well as test running and assessment studies, are on-going in the site.
Video to illustrate the road and the river