Oyo community commends World bank over projects

Residents of Orita community in Eruwa town, Ibarapa East Council area of Oyo State, on Monday, commended the World Bank for what they describe as “life-changing” projects which it initiated and completed in the community.

The residents, who spoke during the World Bank outcome evaluation tour, were full of praises for the financial institution, saying the projects had affected the community positively.

The Chairman, Community Projects Management Committee (CPMC), Chief Samuel Oyinlola, said that the community appreciated the intervention of the bank in the community.

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“They gave us four projects and it may interest you to know that they funded them up to 90 per cent. We only added 10 per cent to complete them.

“A 500KVA transformer was procured and installed, a standard borehole was dug, a six-unit block of VIP toilet and standard dining was constructed at the school for the physically-challenged.

“All the projects were executed by our contractors and supervised by the CPMC headed by me. We are indeed grateful for this wonderful intervention,” he said.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Orita Community Development Association, Mr Segun Olayiwola, noted that the projects were the first government intervention in the area in its over 50 years of existence.

He disclosed that the projects were collectively agreed and applied for by the whole community, based on their needs and priorities.

“They asked us for what was most important to us and we listed four: water, electricity, toilets for special students and standard dining for them, due to their peculiar conditions.

“They granted our requests and all the projects were completed within the time frame. We awarded the contracts to our preferred contractors and funds were simultaneously released. This is like a magic to us,” he said.

A trader, Kudirat Abiodun, while praising the World Bank, said that power and water had always been major challenges to the people of the community, adding that the projects had impacted positively on the people.

“I have a deep freezer that had been lying fallow because since I moved into this area about 10 years ago, we hardly enjoyed the light for one hour out of 24 hours.

“This is the highest impact anyone can make in my life. I and most people in this community are now able to have access to longer hours of power supply and we also have water. May God bless the World Bank,” she said.

A community leader, Mr Saka Bello, said that the projects had been a source of happiness and joy to the community, adding that all the disputes arising from the projects execution had been amicably resolved.

In his remarks, Dr Kabir Salmon, the World Bank consultant, disclosed that the essence of the tour was to establish that the projects were executed as stipulated by the bank’s procedures.

“The World Bank has commissioned my team to go round some communities to ascertain the level of compliance with the procedures and also, to access the impact of those projects on the communities.

“This is important because we do not want projects that will not impact on the people; we also want to know if there are challenges attached to those projects,” he said.

The consultant said that the bank had sponsored many projects in many communities in the state through the Community Social Development Agency (CSDA).

Also speaking, the CSDA Manager for monitoring and evaluation in the state, Mrs Raheemat Adebanija, said that the agency ensured due process in selecting beneficiary communities.

“Our agency, which is under the office of the Vice President, stands in between the bank and the benefiting communities and groups.

“We are to ensure and promote community-driven development. To achieve this, we have assisted so many groups and communities with provisions of social amenities and, in some instances, with cash,” she said.

Adebanija enumerated some of the conditions before award of grants or projects to communities, revealing that expression of interest through the application was important.

According to her, registration with local government, ability to demonstrate the counterparts funding of 10 percent for communities and five percent for groups must be demonstrated either in cash or in kind.

“Community’s plan and ability to attend project management and execution seminar are also very important in the selection process,” she said.

Adebanija also disclosed that the agency would lead the evaluation team to other parts of the state to assess the impact and ascertain compliance.