A team of experts from the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) was at the University of Ibadan to seek collaboration to transmute the project into a centre of excellence.
The team was received on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Professor Ezekiel Olusola Ayoola.
The Project Coordinator, Engr Olasunkanmi Sokeye, explained that the World Bank and Oyo State government funded project would end very soon, and the infrastructure and knowledge generated by the project should not be allowed to waste.
He said this was only possible if the University of Ibadan would collaborate with the IUFMP to create a Centre of Excellence, a resource base for addressing problems of flooding, waste management, urban planning and application of digital solutions.
Engr Sokeye recalled that in 2021, students of the University of Ibadan were invited to come up with innovations that could help mitigate flooding, and World Bank experts were highly impressed with their submissions.
He stated that the Department of Civil Engineering had served as the quality control centre for the materials being used by the project, and the relationship had been mutually beneficial.
The Centre of Excellence is expected to offer short courses on flood management and mitigation and to provide expert advice to other African countries, given that the IUFMP is the only such project being financed by the World Bank in Africa.
In his remarks, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration, Professor Ayoola, who expressed UI’s appreciation of its town and gown collaborations, assured the institution would willingly do same with the IUFMP.
He stated that UI has a pool of experts that would serve as the resource persons at the Centre of Excellence.
The Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project is a 220 million dollars project established in 2014 and funded by the World Bank and Oyo State Government after the Flood disaster of 2011 which claimed over 100 lives and property worth billions of naira in Ibadan metropolis.
Over 170 million dollars have been spent on master plans, infrastructure, bridges, culverts, and the dredging of over 450 kilometres of rivers and streams.
The project intends to expand the culvert on the Orogun River and would therefore be starting the work very soon.
