THE front page of Thursday’s Houston Chronicle is one an average Nigerian is likely to look with extra attention. The newspaper’s second lead story has the headline: “Final approval for Ike Dike is likely”. Ike is the shortened form of an Igbo name Ikechukwu and Dike is a popular Igbo name. So, chances are that an average Nigerian may think a compatriot is getting an approval for a major endeavour in America.
However, this Ike Dike is not a human being not to talk of it having any link with Nigeria. It is a project to control Hurricane in Houston and it is named after Hurricane Ike, which pounded the city, which is home to thousands of Nigerians, some years ago.
The project has been accommodated in the United States defence bill and President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law soon. The project, which could take two decades to be completed, will cost $30 billion. The federal government is expected to cough out $19 billion and the rest sourced from the region. It will save $2.2 billion lost to storm damages annually.
