It was Easter Sunday yesterday and as soon as we finished the church service and already on my way home,a dirty waterlogged drainage caught my attention.
This drainage is located opposite a major market in the outskirts of a town called Ifite in Awka south local government area of Anambra state.
What drew my attention to the poor drainage was its dirty and ill-fated mode as well as the fact that it was located in the market.

To say the least,that drainage can easily pass as the desired home of any healthy Mosquito with it being waterlogged,darkened and containing a mixture of both biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes which undoubtedly added to its strong pungent smell. For me,it was a worrying sight to behold owing to the fact that almost on top of the worst part of that drainage, there was an abattoir where residents of that area buy their meat and also its proximity to the market with such pungent smell made it all the more unhealthy.

Worried by what I have seen, I decided to follow up my new discovery to a conclusive end so,I traced the drainage down the street opposite that market and as I was going down the street,which has a one-sided drainage system, I discovered that houses(about eight houses) were built very close to the ill-fated drainage, in fact,some houses were as close as 5 centimetres to the drainage system.
Sighting a resident in one of the houses,I quickly went closer to see if I can get more information and so it proved, as I was told that that drainage system was meant to collect water coming from the adjoining street in the market and dispose it far inside Awka,the capital of the state,but as it appeared, the drainage system was not completed. The resident continued his story informing me that the end of that drainage was blocked hence leaving water in the gutters. He encouraged me to complete my journey by going down the street to the end of the drainage to see for myself. And that, I did as I went down and found out that the drainage ended prematurely.
Also,my findings revealed that due to the abrupt end of the channel, flood water that gets to that end starts to flow on land and this is slowly eroding the soil surface.
In fact ,from what I saw yesterday, that sight may be a big erosion sight in a few years if something is not done to prevent it as residents are already using it as a dump site.

However, I felt there was still more to know about this street's situation and I was not wrong as I caught up with another resident who told me that building houses on top of drainage channels affected the construction of that particular drainage system as some of the houses  blocked the path of the channel.

Speaking to another resident, who like the other two refused to appear on my phone's camera and spoke on the condition of anonymity,blamed the water-logged channel on a bore-hole water supply across the road which he said was not functioning properly and allowed water to flow into the ill-fated drainage.

Be that as it may,with the full raining season fast approaching,residents of that area may be in for a tough time if something is not done to remedy the situation.
But then, with the appointment of a new commissioner for Environment by the newly inaugurated Anambra state government and the recent flag-off of the "clean Anambra state" campaign by the governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano,I am hopeful that it won't be long before the problem of this area of Ifite is solved as I also look forward to making vital contributions to the  state ministry of environment.

I have taken it upon myself the responsibility of helping these residents get out of this ugly situation and live in a healthy environment. I look forward to work with the state government here especially through the new Commissioner for Environment to ensure that our environment gets the care it deserves.

It was a tough journey yesterday but I am glad I did,it was indeed an eye-opener and every inch worthwhile.