BY KENE AMADI
The trending and sponsored story by the notorious online platform, Sahara Reporters, alleging that the Enugu State Deputy Governor's community, Ezimo, is battling a drinking water crisis that has forced residents to fetch water from dirty streams and gutters, is typical of the blog's unprofessional, compromised and unethical journalism.
From the introduction of the story, there was no byline, no attribution, no photo caption, and none of the other known attributes of a news story that make it authentic, professional, balanced and newsworthy.
It is crystal clear that the story is fake, a figment of the imagination, and a sponsored attempt to malign the Deputy Governor. Otherwise, why the mention of the Deputy Governor of the state, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai, as though he is the only indigene of Ezimo Community?
Assuming, without conceding, that some may argue it is because he is prominent, visible and relevant, it goes beyond that, as it is obvious that everything about the story, from the headline, introduction, body and conclusion, is nothing but fabrication and concoction that deserves no dignified response, except to set the record straight.
For those who are not aware, Sahara Reporters has become a veritable platform for cheap blackmail, propaganda, and the purveyance of fake news and lies because it is not a registered entity in Nigeria that can be sued. That is why it has no functional or known office or address in Nigeria. It was registered in the USA in the late 1990s. Since the return of democracy, the publisher, who ventured into politics unprepared and inexperienced, has allegedly allowed the platform to be used by desperate politicians and individuals as a tool to blackmail and impugn the character of their opponents while going scot-free and remaining unaccountable.
Now that Hon. Onyekachi Ugwu, former Chairman of Udenu Local Government Area, has provided incontrovertible evidence of the numerous functional and under-construction boreholes in Ezimo Community, the onus lies on Sahara Reporters and its sponsors to prove otherwise.
According to Hon. Onyekachi Ugwu, in a Facebook post titled "EZIMO COMMUNITY/WARD HAS 7 GOVERNMENT BOREHOLES. FIVE OF THEM ARE FUNCTIONAL,"
"The attached screenshot from the post by Sahara Reporters is falsehood walking on all fours, and it is a shame that the principles of investigative journalism have been lost to that organization. Too bad. How the cookie is crumbling too fast!
Let me put it as plainly as it is: Ezimo Community has no business relying on streams or runoff water for its potable water needs. Ezimo, however, has over twenty-two streams and five waterfalls, not to mention many smaller bodies of water. These are spread across the two autonomous communities that make up Greater Ezimo.
Ezimo, as a ward, boasts significant government presence when it comes to water boreholes."
The locations are:
Ozara – ADB Borehole (2005)
Status: Functional
Ogbushue – Senator Utazi Constituency Project (2019)
Status: Currently not functional
C.S.S. Ezimo – Federal Government Project (1983)
Amaogbele – CSDA Project (2022)
Status: Functional
Urukpa – ATAPS Solar-Powered Borehole
Status: Semi-functional
Urukpa – IFAD Borehole (2023)
Status: Functional
Amallogbo/Amogu – Udenu Local Government Borehole (2026)
Status: Functional
With the above statistics, it is evident that Urukpa, and indeed Ezimo Community, has no potable water crisis to contend with.
This means that Ezimo Community has eight boreholes.
It is also satisfying to state that Ezimo, despite its relatively small size and population, has a higher number of government boreholes than about 80 percent of the communities in Enugu North Senatorial Zone.
"As I write, Monday Diamond and his CSDA have concluded arrangements for the siting of yet another borehole in Ezimo, bringing the total to eight government boreholes.
If not for some technical issues, the borehole designed for the Type II Healthcare Facility at Ibagwa Ezimo would have been completed.
So, what is all this trending trash? Politics taken to ridiculous heights.
Those who seek to demarket Ezimo should be wary. Those who play ridiculous politics with matters concerning Ezimo should also be wary.
Ezimo is our community. I invite anyone in doubt to come for an on-the-spot assessment of Ezimo's water facilities, streams and springs.
Who cares to take up the challenge? Sahara Reporters, over to you.
