Now That The Rains Are Here By Sodiq Yusuf
The rainy season is an essential component of the calendar year, one that comes with a lot of environmental awareness in order to avoid disasters that can claim numerous human lives.
With its peculiarities, the rains are key to the sustenance of the eco-system with new plants and crops springing up, the green atmosphere of the land also radiates with the environment becoming friendlier to see. The grass is green, vegetation is beautiful and is something to behold. Perhaps the reason why many people love the season.
It is a season when many people carry their umbrellas everywhere they go because the clean drops of water from the sky come unannounced.
With its wet nature, the streams are busy again with water flowing through with a fast speed during the rainy hours; the lakes become cleaner and fuller while the drainages are beehive of activities once more.
The 2018 Rainy season might have started with although quiet early than we expected. It reminds us of how to start preparing for the season which might have started unfolding with a pretty sense of heavy downpour.
This is the season when the ugliest trend that accompanies the rains; FLOOD happens. Aside the winds that blow off roofs and bring weak structures down, Flood is the imminent danger that happens to most areas during the rainy season. It renders many homeless, properties destroyed and preventive deaths occurring.
In Nigeria, the flood problem has been of recurrence for years. Although, the government intervenes to provide succour for the affected individuals, the extent to which flood damages and ravages its plain zones is very alarming.
Reports of the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA on interventions to flood ravaged areas and communities show that the shody preparation of these areas described as flood plains is disheartening.
With various campaigns on traditional, mainstream and online media, governments across the federation have underscored the importance of putting in place measures to checkmate the occurrence of flood.
In Osun, the state government under Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola since inception in 2010 has put in place several policies to ensure that the environment is clean, free from dirt and safe to live in most importantly; a disaster free one.
It began with the dredging of notable waterways in the state to ensure that water passes through freely from the canals and drainages in the state. In all the roads constructed by the government, flood preventive drainages with strong culverts have been put in place.
Aside this, major flashpoints like the Okoko River, Gbonmi area and Rasco Bridge in Osogbo as well as the popular Waterway in Modakeke have been pulled down with new structures in place. The drainages are now constructed with the state of the art materials as well as new trends in the construction industry.
The drainages are now wider, culverts big and bridges broadened. The concept of Aregbesola’s dynamism has put to stop the ugly trend. Monthly, the waterways are dredged and water channels broadened to give way for water to pass.
The bulk now stops on the people of the State of Osun. Government has done everything to prevent flood. We must all strive and try to ensure that our environment is clean, waterways are dug and rid of dirt every time.
Water channels must be created to ensure the free flow of rain water.
Together, we should make 2018 another Flood free year for Osun.
