WORLD RIVERS DAY CELEBRATION AT THE OTAMIRI WATER WORKS IN EGBU, OWERRI NORTH LGA ON THE 27TH SEPTEMBER 2021.
- You Here!
- Home UncategorizedWORLD RIVERS DAY CELEBRATION AT THE OTAMIRI WATER WORKS IN EGBU, OWERRI NORTH LGA ON THE 27TH SEPTEMBER 2021.
Our Latest News
WORLD RIVERS DAY CELEBRATION AT THE OTAMIRI WATER WORKS IN EGBU, OWERRI NORTH LGA ON THE 27TH SEPTEMBER 2021.
INTRODUCTION
In response to a proposal initiated by renowned river advocate Mark Angelo to highlight the importance of rivers, increase public awareness on the need for the preservation/conservation of our water ways and encourage improved stewardship of rivers around the world, the United Nations earmarked the fourth Sunday of September to celebrate the WORLD RIVERS DAY (WRD). Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) in collaboration with Anambra Imo River Basin Development Authority (AIRBDA), the Imo State Water and Sewerage Corporation (ISWSC), and other water stakeholders in the South-East, Celebrated this year’s WRD with the theme “WATER WAYS IN OUR COMMUNITIES” at the Otamiri Water Works situated at Egbu in Owerri North LGA on the 27th of September 2021.
DIGNITARIES IN ATTENDANCE INCLUDE:
The event started by 11.25AM with an opening prayer led by Rev. John Jasper Njoku.
It was preceded by presentation of Kolanuts by the MD AIRDBA Engr. Gerald Osuagwu while HRM Eze Mitchell Uchenna Egbukole prayerd over the kolanuts.
WELCOME ADDRESS BY EX. DIRECTOR PLANNING AND DESIGN AIRBDA ENGR. CHIDOZIE CHUKWUEMEREIJE.
The Executive Director Planning and Design AIRBDA Engr. Chidozie Chukwumereije in his welcome address said that the World Rivers Day is a day set aside for the celebration of the World’s water ways which highlights the many values of rivers, creates public awareness and encourages the improved stewardship of rivers around the world. He noted that this years’ celebration has the theme “Water Ways in our communities” with specific emphasis on the need to conserve and repair urban water ways which are frequently under threat. According to the ED the WRD began in 2005 when Mark Angelo, a renowned water environmentalist addressed the United Nations during his water for life campaign where he raised an awareness about vulnerable water supply throughout the world. Angelo called for an annual Rivers Day celebration to help the course gain the appropriate attention it deserves.
This maiden edition of the WRD with special focus on creating public awareness on the importance of rivers, river clean ups’, river restoration as wells as restoration and conservation of our water way. The ED reiterated that while creating awareness on the importance of rivers, it is pertinent to note that practices such as dumping of refuse in the river, open defecation, discharge of sewage into the river are harmful and pollutes the rivers.
The ED stated that water is life, and pointed out that all hands must be on deck to aggressively protect our rivers which are our major source of water supply.
ADDRESS BY MD AIRBDA ENGR. GERALD OSUAGWU
In his address, the MD AIRBDA Engr. Gerald Osuagwu welcomed guests to this year’s WRD celebration. He started that this year’s celebration with the theme “Water Ways in Our communities” is in recognition of the incredible natural, cultural and recreational values of rivers and stream as well as the extent to which they add to our quality of life. He noted that in 2005, the United Nations launched the “water for life decade” to help create greater awareness of the need to better care for our water resources. The MD started that the WRD was established in response to a proposal initiated by Mark Angelo, a renowned river advocate. Consequently, river enthusiast from around the world came together and organized the inaugural World River Day event.
He further stated that the WRD is celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday in September however. The maiden celebration of the event in Nigeria is being observed at both the Federal and State levels and celebrated simultaneously in the twelve River Basin Development Authorities in the country including the FCT on Monday the 27th of September with objectives of drawing a wider segment of the population stakeholders. The celebration according to the MD focuses mainly on creating awareness on the importance of rivers, river cleanup and restoration as well as preservation and conservation.
More importantly, the MD stated that the WRD is intended to draw attention to the fact that rivers in the world are facing degradation mostly due to human activities, adding that a closer look around Owerri will show that the two main rivers in the state capital, Otamiri and Nworie are equally facing serious ecological threats and degradation as a result of man-made environmental degradation. He noted that if these activities are left unchecked, it will lead to the permanent damage of the river system. He also emphasized that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of all stakeholders and the public to play their roles in ensuring that our water ways are protected and safeguarded.
The MD AIRBDA highlighted the activities mapped out to commemorate the maiden celebration of the WRD which include:
Maintaining healthy rivers and waters as a means of combating disease has become apparent. The MD then urged stakeholders to recognize the importance of protecting, conserving, restoring water ways and river systems in our communities from all forms of pollution and degradation of health and clean supply of water.
OPENING REMARKS BY MD/CEO ISWSC ENGR. EMEKA UGOANYANWU FNSE FNIWE NPOM KSJI FOSHA
In his opening remarks, the MD/CEO Imo State Water and Sewerage Corporation (ISWSC) Engr. Emeka UgoanyanwuFNSE FNIWE NPOM KSJI FOSHAbriefed the guest on the inception of the WRD celebration, as well as its aims and objectives. He said that the maiden edition was held in 2005 following the launch of the “Water for life Decade” by the United Nations with the purpose of highlighting the importance of rivers, increase public awareness and encourage improved stewardship of rivers around the world.
Engr. Ugoanyanwu further stated that rivers form an important part of our environment but are unfortunately facing enormous challenges. According to Engr. Ugoanyanwu, these challenges are caused by human activities, climate change, rapid urbanization, street trading, sand and gravel mining, increasing human population etc. He noted that Imo State has four main rivers, the Otamiri River, Nworie, Njaba, and Orashi Rivers. He stated that these rivers face existential dangers largely due to human activities, pointing out that in order to conserve and repair these urban waterways, we must curb the use of plastics and control plastic pollution of our environment, discourage destruction of riparian vegetation that shade rivers, stop refuse dumping in the rivers and control mining of sand and gravel.
He expressed his gratitude to the Hon. Minister for Water Resources Engr. Sulieman Adamu, His Excellency Senator Hope Uzodinma the Executive Governor of Imo State, as well as the MD AIRBDA Engr. Gerald Osuagwu for bringing change to the Imo State water sector and for their leadership and hard work in making this year’s WRD a huge success. In conclusion, he called for the rejuvenation of rivers across the state.
REMARKS BY HRM EZE MITCHELL UCHENNA EGBUKOLE OCHORONMA VI OF EGBU KIMGDOM
HRH Eze Egbukole in his remarks noted that the Otamiri River derives its source from Egbu Kingdom. He pointed out that the indigenes of Egbu community revere and respect’s the river greatly and thus, is doing everything possible to ensure that the river is protected and conserved. His majesty stated that one of the major threats facing the Otamiri is the unauthorized dredging of the river which is causing contamination of the river and also leaving the entire area vulnerable to erosion. He however noted that with the assistance of security agencies and Egbu Youth, he has been able to checkmate these harmful practices.
The traditional ruler stated that in recent times, Egbu has experienced heavy flooding that displaced a lot of people from their homes due to the damage caused by the sale of water ways leading to the blockage of the waters ways. He further stated that there have been threats by some miscreants to sell the “mpkuru Otamiri” which is the major water way of the Otamiri, adding that if this happens, the Otamiri will dry up. He called on the Federal and State Government as well stakeholder to come to their rescue and ensure that this doesn’t happen.
Further on addresses, Mr. Enekwa Ebere Hezekiah representing the USAID E-WASH (Effective Water Sanitation & Hygiene) while giving a brief on the activities of E-WASH stated that E-WASH is a four year program designed to create professionally managed and commercially oriented state water corporations, improve financial and operational viability of state water corporations, strengthen policy, institutional and regulatory framework for improved water services and ensure good coordination, advocacy and strategy communication to promote reforms.
He stated that since coming into the state, E-WASH has designed and implemented some interventions and reforms across all departments in the state water corporation and seeks to create a professionally managed, financial oriented state water corporation. He further stated that ISWSC has also been upgraded from a manually operated corporation to a digitally operated corporation and the staff has received training in relevant fields. He further stated that E-WASH has a charge to ensure that water is delivered to Imo State citizens and efforts are ongoing to accomplish this charge.
LECTURE SERIES
A lecture with the theme “Sustainable Management of Urban Rivers: Case study of Rivers in Owerri” was delivered by Engr. Prof. Joachim Osuagwu. Engr. Osagwu is a professor of Civil engineering at the Federal University of Technology Owerri.
While delivering his lecture, Prof. Osuagwu stated that rivers are cradles of civilizations and are beneficial to humanity for water supply, agriculture, transport, energy etc. He noted that rivers are important cultural heritages that must be conserved.
Prof. Osuagwu pointed out that more than half of the world’s major rivers are being seriously depleted and polluted, poisoning the surrounding ecosystem and thus threatening the health and livelihood of people who depend on them for various purposes and activities. The professor whose emphasis was on urban rivers in Owerri, noted that Owerri has two main rivers, the Otamiri and the Nworie. These rivers he noted have been subjected to intensive human and industrial activities leading to high rates of pollution and degradation.
Prof. Osuagwu outlined the problems facing some of these rivers to include the unrestricted dredging of sand in the river basin, deposition of organic and inorganic waste into the rivers, siltation of the river channels. He also noted that tons of left over laterite from road construction are abandoned on the roads and during the rains, they are washed into the rivers. According to the Professor, other factors that have led to degradation of the rivers include poor agricultural practices in the river catchment, bush burning and deforestation and unplanned settlements.
He pointed out that objective of river management include guaranteeing the right quality and quantity of water which can be achieved by preventing water pollution and ensuring that the water channels are desalted, sustaining high bio-diversity and mitigating river degradation.
Furthermore, he stated that sustainable management of our rivers and water ways should not be left to government alone stressing that is takes the collective efforts of all water stakeholders to ensure the preservation and conservation of water ways.
Taking us further on the lecture series, Engr. Madu Ihedioha of USAID E-WASH spoke on “Effects of socio-economic activities on our water ways, a case study of Otamiri”. He stated that ground water in Imo State is heavily polluted but drastic measures have to be taken to ensure that the situation is reversed. He pointed out that the mandate of USAID E-WASH in the state is to re-access the plant which has been moribund for close to ten years and identify exactly what needs to be done to get it functional.
Engr. Madu stated that they have since purchased 6 brand new turbine pumps for both the low lifts and the high lifts respectively.
In his well-articulated speech, he also noted that the plant which was designed based on certain parameters is faced with several challenges. He reiterated the need for maintenance and sustainability plans. He called on all the authorities and stakeholders present to do what they can to remedy the situation.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WRD
Highlight of the occasion was the “symbolic cleaning” of the Otamiri river and “Tree Planting” which involves planting of memorial trees at the river side by the MDs of AIRBDA and ISWSC Engr. Gerald Osuagwu and Engr. Emeka Ugoanyanwu respectively, the Permanent Secretary, Imo State Ministry of Water Resources Mazi Gill Nnah, HRH Eze Mitchell Uchenna Egbukole Ochoronma VI of Egbu Kingdom and HRH Eze Francis Ugorji the Eze of Naze, Lady Ann Dozie S.A to the Governor on Nursing, Midwifery and Adoption, Executive Director from AIRBDA and other stakeholders.
GOOD WILL MESSAGES FROM STAKEHOLDERS
Engr. Mike Nwachukwu, ED Planning and design who also represented the Nigeria Institute for Water Engineers (NIWE) in his good will message reiterated the need for a commitment to safe guard our water ways. He stated that it is an established fact that waters ways worldwide are being threatened by harmful human activities both upstream and downstream. He noted that we all have roles to play as major beneficiaries of water. He harped on the need to protect our rivers as they are the source of the water we for various purposes. He stated the NIWE readiness to liaise and partner with government at all levels to seek for ways by which activities, on our water ways can be improved.
Engr. Iheaka Charles ISWSC along same vein delivered a good will message on behalf of the ISWSC stating that the protection of our rivers can never be over emphasized. He described the situations of the water ways especially in the South-East as deplorable and called on all stakeholders to contribute toward sustaining our water ways.
The WRD celebration ended with a press conference and press briefing by the MD AIRBDA Engr. Gerald Osuagwu and the MD/CEO ISWSC Engr. Emeka Ugoanyawu FNSE FNIWE NPOM KSJI FOSHA.
It was an outstanding maiden edition to commemorate the World Rivers Day.