The erosion and flood control project in Akwakuma, Imo State, awarded to Saicom Integrated Services Limited remains largely unfinished despite payments made. TheInvestigator’s Arinze Chijioke reports that the incomplete project has worsened flooding, impacting economic activities and posing a threat to lives in the community.
Clement James stood in front of his shop, steering into the atmosphere when this reporter arrived at Akwakuma, one of the communities in Owerri North local government, Imo State this August.
The clouds were gathering. Soon, it began to drizzle and Clement thought of what would be the consequences of yet another flooding. For almost a decade now, he and other residents and business owners in the community have witnessed several flooding incidents which have left severe consequences in their wake – building collapses and submerged roads.
Whenever it rains in Akwakuma, a beehive of activities, road networks take weeks before they completely dry up due to the absence of well-constructed drainage systems. Economic activities are often affected.
Although there has not been any case of death, findings show that a resident almost lost his life three years ago after he was swept away by flooding. He was saved by other residents.
“We never pray it rains in Akwakuma,” James told TheInvestigator. “When it does, we remain indoors till the rain stops and try to be alert so as not to lose household items. The flood has swept away cars,” he added soberly.
Contract Awarded Not Executed
In 2022, in what looked like an answered prayer, a contract for erosion and flood control works at Akwakuma/Umudagu, one of the adjoining roads where heavy flooding occurs in the community was awarded to Saicom Integrated Services limited by the Anambra Imo River Basin Development Authority (AIRBDA) a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
The project was attracted by Honourable Ikenna Elezieanya, who was a member of the representing Owerri Federal Constituency at the National Assembly at the time, but later lost his re-election bid. He is currently the Commissioner for Science and Technology in Imo State.
James and other business owners and residents of the community had hoped that the project, when completed, would help to tackle the perennial challenge of flooding which has caused them pain and tears.
According to data available on the GovSpend platform – which tracks and analyses federal government spending over time, a total of N15 million was paid to the contractor including N7.8 million (N7,837,506) on April 13, 2023, and N8.5 million (N8,555,150) on 26, Jun 2023, with payment code 0252037001.
Sadly, on a visit to the location, it was discovered that the only work done on the project was an incomplete drainage system. According to residents, the contractor left the site after he completed an already existing drainage on one end of the road and worked a bit on the second end of the road.
Where the drainage constructed by AIRBDA ended.
Where the second drainage stopped.
“We have not seen him since then till date,” said Veronica Jonathan, who owns a provision store along the road. “One time, he told us that he was leaving because there was no material and funds to continue the project.”
Before the contractor finally came and did the drainage, sources say they had come severally and taken measurements of the road, leaving residents with high hopes of a construction, with proper drainage systems.
TheInvestigaor’s further show that the erosion project may have been subcontracted by the original contractor it was awarded to. While available data shows that Saicom Integrated Services Limited got the contract and received payment, the project signboard has Greycube Dynamics Limited as the contractor.
While available information on NG Check shows that the company was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on 20 November 2003, with Ibegbulem Samuel Ahamefula and Ibegbulem Rosemary Uzoma both serving as directors, its activity was unspecified. Further searches on the website of the CAC did not show any information about the company which indicates that the company has yet to register with the commission or failed to file its annual returns. And there is no information about the persons with significant control in the company.
State Government Unkept Promise And Worsening Flooding
In the build-up to the Imo State governorship election in 2023, community residents told TheInvestigator that the current governor, Hope Uzodinma promised to reconstruct the major road linking Akwakuma to Okigwe and Enugu State.
However, after the election, Uzodinma failed to keep to his promise. What this reporter saw on a visit to the community was a poorly constructed and one-sided drainage.
James said that the contractor handling the state government project had told him at the time that Uzodimma, the governor, said there was no money and that the project would resume immediately after the election and when he returned to power.
“The drainage is the only thing that the contractor did,” James said. “To date, we are still hoping that they will return to the site to complete the project.”
Clement speaks on the poor drainage construction.
Worsening Flooding Affects Businesses
With the major road left unattended and the AIRBDA projects abandoned, residents say the flooding situation is worsening. Now, the road has completely left its original position and continues to sink in whenever it rains, forcing business owners to construct staircases to enable customers to access their shops.
Shop owners who spoke to this reporter said that tippers and trucks now come to excavate sand from the Akwakuma/Umudagu road to make it motorable as cars often get stuck on the road.
Agnes Oluchi has severally considered changing location for her business. She owns a store along the Akwakuma-Umudagu road where she has run her events management and confectioneries venture since 2017.
“But the cost of relocating and finding a new store is out of pocket. Many people who can afford it have relocated, including families. Those of us left behind are suffering,” she said.
She has constructed staircases at least five times to allow her and customers access the shop, but they have all fallen because they usually cannot withstand pressure from the volume of water in the area. In February, she spent over N150,000 constructing another staircase, hoping it would not be destroyed again.
Buffers constructed by Agnes.
“I even pay indigenes for them to approve of the construction,” she stated.
Agnes used to sell beverages, but she stopped after her suppliers stopped delivering to her because of the state of the road. She says she has fixed her car several times after it developed a fault due to the state of the road.
She, however, said that apart from the contractor’s failure to complete the project, residents of Akwakuma were partly to blame because of their poor waste management culture.
“It is common to see residents dumping their refuse inside the drainage systems and so, whenever it rains, it becomes difficult for water to pass through them,” she revealed, maintaining that “We also need to learn how to manage our waste.”
Grace Joseph owns a provision store along the road. She says business is no longer booming as it used to due to the state of the road. According to her, customers often become discouraged from climbing her shop to get what they want.
“Rather than control erosion, Joseph and other residents of Akwakuma say the AIRBDA project is worsening it. A complete two-side drainage system would have helped to deal with the challenge because we are suffering,” she said.
Findings show that most car owners living in the community no longer drive them out, they jump on buses to get to their destination to avoid damaging it on the road. Motorcyclists who regularly ply the Akwakuma-Umudagu road said that its dilapidated state has more than doubled transport fair. Some of those who spoke to this reporter said that distances that used to be covered with N200 are now N300. They say it is worse when it rains as the road becomes impassable.
Contractor Reacts As AIRBDA Fails To Respond To FOI
When contacted for a response, an engineer with Saicom Integrated Services Limited said that the one-sided drainage executed was what was contained in the bill of quantities and what available funds- that is the N15 million could afford.
The engineer didn’t disclose his name and designation but told this reporter that the project stalled after Elezieanya, who had attracted it lost his bid to return to the National Assembly, adding that there was no way to insert it as a constituency project again.
“We cannot do more than what is in the bill of quantities or available funds. AIRBDA would not have also released money if we did not do the work we were expected to do,” he revealed.
When asked why a different company executed the project instead of Saicom which got the contract, he said “What matters is that the job has been executed, it is still the same.”
TheInvestigator contacted Honourable Ikenna Elezieanya, the facilitator, and he said that the project stalled because of the paucity of funds. He also confirmed that the N15 million paid for the project could only construct a small drainage system.
“I planned to attract more funding for the project if I had returned to the national assembly, now, because there is non-continuity, the project has been abandoned. “The new representative will be concerned about the development of some priority areas of his constituency,” Eleizeanya maintained.
He noted that he would not have used the whole allocation for his constituency to construct the Akwakuma road when other locations within his constituency also deserve development.
“There are a lot of projects that have not been completed due to paucity of funds,” he said, adding that the project would require huge investment.
This reporter sent an FOI request to Gerald O. Osuagwu, who is the Managing Director of AIRBDA on August 19, requesting specific details of the contract, including the contract execution period, contract value, the amount paid and the level of completion.
However, there was no response at the time of this publication. TheInvestigator also tried to reach the agency via the contact available on its website multiple times, but it failed to connect.
TheInvestigator produced this story through its Environmental and Accountability Reporting (EAR) project with support from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting and the MacArthur Foundation.