BENIN City, the capital of Edo State has had its fair share of flooding which rears its ugly head whenever there is a downpour.

However, the city was not always like this. Being a well-planned city, even by Western European standard, Benin City, according to materials gleaned from the internet “consisted of ramparts and moats, called iya, enclosing a 4,000 square kilometer (2485.5 miles) of community lands…. Advantageously situated, the moats were dug (sic) in such a manner that earthen banks provided outer walls that complemented deep ditches….

The ramparts range in size from shallow traces to the immense 20-meter-high rampart (66 feet) around Benin City (Wesler 1998: 144). The Guinness Book of World Records describes the walls of Benin City as the world’s second largest man-made structure after China’s Great Wall, in terms of length, and the series of earthen ramparts as the most extensive earthwork in the world.

“During the second half of the 15th century, Oba Ewuare the Great ordered a moat to be dug in the heart of the city. The earthworks served as a bastion and also afforded control of access to the capital.”

It is, however, sad that today, the moat which was dug by the city’s forebears to serve the twin-purpose of security and controlling erosion and flood in the city has been taken over by land grabbers who built illegal structures on the moat. In other cases, the moat were turned to refuse dump sites, thus making the free flow of flood water impossible.

However, succour has come the way of the people as the government of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has taken the bull by the horns by taking action to restore the moat’s right of way as a way of controlling the problem of flood in the state capital. Already, illegal buildings blocking the moat in Upper Lawani and Five Junction Area of the state capital have been pulled down in an ongoing exercise to completely reclaim the moat, a world heritage site.

In addition, the government has secured a N25 billion bond from the stock market to adequately tackle the erosion problem in a modern way. Known as the Benin City Storm Water Masterplan, the project is divided into phases and the first phase has been launched.

The first phase involves the construction of a distilling basin of 120ft x 120ft of massive drainage which takes all the floods from secondary drains into the primary drain which then flows into the Ogba River. The distilling basin will take a massive 20,000 metre tonnes of excavation, requiring 18,200 metric tonnes of cement and 20,000 pounds of boulder and it will have a 2.5m x 2.5m doubled culverts stretching for about one kilometre.

Connecting the distilling basin, which will be self-cleaning and desilting is a trapezated drain which is 45ft wide at the top, 12ft wide at the bottom and almost seven metres deep. It will run round parts of the state and will be completely covered by the road in densely-populated areas.

The first phase will take care of the flood problem in Teachers’ House, Uwelu axis, Akugbe Road, Otete Street, Igbinaduwa, Adolor College Road, Obakpolor, Textile Mill Road, Oro Street, Iheya, Ivbiye Street and Lane, Third Cemetery and the Five Junction area and adjoining streets, in the process taking care of about a quarter of flood in the capital city. All the roads which will be constructed or rehabilitated in the storm water project will come with walkways, street lights and drains.

However, while the storm water project is majorly about de-flooding the city, there are other projects across the three senatorial districts which are of equal importance to the well-being of the people, economy and growth of the state.

Completed projects in Benin City include Gani Fawhinmi Layout, comprising six roads complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Oba Market Road complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Stadium Road, complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Sokponba Road, complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Second West Road complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Akpakpava Road complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Sapele Road, dual-carriage way, complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Airport road, dual carriage way, ongoing to be completed with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Siluko Road complete with covered drains, walkways and street lights; Upper Siluko Road, ongoing project to be completed with covered drains, walkways and street lights; New Fifa Turf at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium with refurbished dressing rooms; ongoing work on the six-lane New Lagos Road; completed street lights at Upper Soponba; completed street lights at Ramat Park-Agbor Road; ongoing road construction at Oro street, Uwa lane, Third Cemetery, Ihenyan, Five Junction and other adjoining streets, all roads to be completed with covered drains, walkways and street lights. Also, the King’s Square in the heart of Benin City sits proudly with a beautiful musical tune and a water fountain which glows in different colours.

Completed, refurbished, rehabilitated, renovated and rebuilt schools include Adolor College, St Maria Goretti, Niger College, Idia College, Agbado Primary School, Ohonba Primary School, Payne Primary School and Olua Primary School.

The Five-Star 120-bed hospital complex at the Central Hospital is ongoing.

In Edo Central, Ekpoma and Iruekpen which have been without water for over 25 years due to the rocky and low level of the water table now boast of potable water as boreholes have been sunk in both places with the Dando drilling rigs purchased by the government. Both are completed. Also there is ongoing borehole project at Ohordua. On roads, the Isua-Uzenema Road is completed with side drains; the Igueben-Udo Road, Igueben-Ewohinmi-Ewatto-Ohordua Road, the Amedokhian-Ugboha Road, the Irrua-usugbenu-Ugbegun-Ujogba Road are all ongoing.

The schools completed are Ewu Junior Secondary School; St John Bosco, Ubiaja; Annunciation Catholic College, Irrua, Ibhedu Primary School, Ohordua, Okaigben Primary School, Ewohinmi and Eguare Primary School, Ekpoma. The ongoing schools projects are Our Lady of Lourdes, Uromi; Our Savior Primary School , Iruekpen. All these schools, roads and water projects are in addition to the rural electrification projects in many communities in the area.