Salut friends,

In my last article, o told you guys that I was going to share my experience on a job I was called for on Monday. It was a job funded by the world bank. I should have updated you guys on that but the power supply in my area (and in all parts of Nigeria generally) is nothing to write home about. Once it rains in Nigeria, don't expect power supply.

The world bank is really into serious development programs for the urban and rural areas of it members especially of developing countries. They embark on projects that can minimize unemployment rate, death toll and even poverty alleviation program. During our training session on Sunday, I was exposed to just some few but extremely awesome project this body has executed in the last few years. The one I went for was on Erosion and surrounding Management plan (ESMP). This is actually my first time of work on project that is sponsored by world Bank. The job was quite simply and only took a day for my team to accomplish since the people of the community we were assigned to responded well and fast.

Our job was to act as an enumerator, asking some vital questions from the people of the community and documenting it in the questionnaires given to us. This questions will help the agency to know how to combat their problem and also what advice and infrastructure they will be providing for that community. It was quite a wonderful and fun section for me as I was able to utilize the opportunity to brush up my communication and interaction skills. At a point, I was acting like a well trained professional NGO agent 😁 at another point I was acting as a seasoned awareness campaigner ✌️

Brief on the project

The community had written a letter to the world bank agency office asking for their immediately help and intervention as regards their roads and topography which has been destroyed by erosions called by the water body diverted to their region by some road construction company when they were constructing a in-town road. I guess we can never really tell who is affected for every road construction done in our area. After writing the letter, the world bank went into action not by just running into the community bearing caterpillars and bull dozers like our state and federal government agencies would. Rather, they first sent their delegate to go ascertain the situation and to hear from the people of the community what there complaint was before they take other steps before the final phase of demolition and construction.

The world bank though in partnership with the state and federal government, doesn't give the project to the government, rather they use the NGOs and other consulting firms and private construction companies to execute their project. This is to ensure that :

• There is true intervention

• To minimize corruption to the lowest possible means thereby leading to the achievement of their aim which is to provide help and support for the people

• To ensure that the project is real and not faked by some corrupted people in the government.

• To ensure even distribution of wealth and erase the skewed margin of wealth in the society

• To create job opportunities for those recruited for the job e.g An enumerator.

• Bringing together firms, consultants, project evaluators, construction companies and the government.

The project is in sequence with the actual construction or execution at the end of the line. They first contact the State or federal government to register the project, then they employ intervention firms to go and evaluate the situation. Next, they employ NGOs who will go to create awareness about the project in the community and solicit for the cooperation of the people of the community. Next, they employ consulting firms e.g Hospitalia consulting firm which I worked for, which go and document the responses of the people and also share questionnaires or ask them directly. This firm is will then compile their responses and engage them in sensitization talks to let the see how they actions and negligence has contributed to their current problems. They also ask for any tradition believes, site of cultural heritage or worship site, absence or presence of thugs and thots, and soon. After this, the intervention teams come in, first with landscape evaluation, soil and water sample acquisition, evaluation of collateral damage that may be incurred in the process of executing the project and so on.

Second is to bring all equipment and machinery needed for the project to the project site. And so on.

A funny incident

While acting as an enumerator for this firm, it got to the turn of one woman I was to question. The first question was what her age was. And that was where I got the shock of my life. The woman, whose facial detail is wholeheartedly shouting the age of 63 told me point blank that she is 32! I was shock and froze for sometimes. It was her friend that told her to tell me the truth before she confessed the real age. Why she did that, I can never guess right. Maybe she shy or something, I can never know.

At another one, I asked a woman how she disposes her waste. Omo, the way the woman whispered it to my ear almost made me burst into laughter. She said 'you know, I don't really have much, so I do 'it' in the bush or in the house and then fling it to the bush. Please have mercy on me'. I was like I'm not a prosecutor nor the government why tell me your history 😂😂

When I asked one woman, how she disposes her refuse, she confidently and almost shouted ' I throw it to the bush during dry season and I throw it to the canal during raining season'. I guess I friends thought I was going to use that against her or something 'cos the way they hushed her and told her to say she burns it was hilarious. It came to a point that when I reach the age and mode of disposal side, I am already bursting with laughter inside of me before even asking the questions.

Anyways,it was a fun-filled experience and I hope to do that again very soon not really for the money (na lie, who fun-fill help?😂🤣) but for the experience and exposure.

I wanna thank the Hospitalia team for having me onboard. They were really good at taking care of their workers😋

So that will be all for now. Thanks for reading this article, do well to air your view in the comment section. Please remember to hit the 👍 button ❤️❤️❤️