Erosion ravages Anambra
• Govt House, schools, hospitals, others threatened
By Aidoghie Paulinus
*Erosion site at Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State
The five South East states are facing serious environmental crisis occasioned by the devastating impacts of gully erosion. Residents of the states – Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi, have lost loved ones, houses, businesses, farmlands, economic trees, domestic animals and others to erosion. And sadly, these happen every year.
•A deep gully erosion site near the fence of Amanuke General Hospital, Amanuke
As of July 2018, the region had over 2,800 active erosion sites according to World Igbo Environmental Foundation (WIEF). It broke the figures down thus: Anambra 1,000; Imo 300, Abia 500, Enugu 500 and Ebonyi 500.
•Engr. Felix Odimegwu, Anambra commissioner for environment
Chairman of the foundation, Odili Ojukwu, told journalists in Awka, the Anambra State capital, that many communities would be sacked from their ancestral lands by the ugly development if left unchecked.
•Nnebe
“If you aggregate it, you will discover that the entire region is at risk of losing its ancestral land,” Ojukwu lamented.
This years World Press Freedom Day themed, A press for the planet: Journalism in the face of the environmental crisis provided an opportunity to look at the problems facing the nations environment and how the negative effects can be mitigated, courtesy of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
•Okeke-Ogene
As WIEF stated, the gully erosion menace is worse in Anambra State. So far, houses, economic trees, farmlands, livestock and even wildlife, have been lost to the natural disaster. Although the environmental crisis is widespread in the state, it appears worse in Oko, Agulu, Nanka, Onitsha, Oba and Nnewi, among others.
In Oko, the hometown of Nigerias former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state, a federal polytechnic in the town is already facing existential threat. This is because the erosion menace ravaging parts of that community has surged into the school premises, pulling down a part of its perimeter fence.
Before the polytechnics incident, which left a very deep valley in a section of the school premises, the community had suffered devastating impacts of gully erosion. Homes, hospitals, businesses and even schools (primary and secondary inclusive), have been badly affected. In fact, scores have lost their sources of livelihood due to the environmental crisis in the area.
President of the Federal Polytechnic Oko Alumni Association (FPOAA), Nze Henry Nnebe, told Daily Sun that the last time he checked, no serious action had been taken to address the erosion problem in the polytechnic.
“The gully is still there. The last time I checked, not much has been done there,” Nnebe said.
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But Oko is not alone in this trouble. Many communities in the state are battling with the devastating effects of erosion menace. In Nanka, also in the same local government area, many people are counting their losses. As in Oko, they have lost homes, farmlands, economic trees and others.
Chairman of a committee in charge of erosion issues in Agulu, Nanka and Oko communities, Chief Afam Okeke-Ogene, told Daily Sun that the gullies are still expanding in his community, Nanka, just as in the other two towns.
Okeke-Ogene, who is the National Vice President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, said that although the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, was making efforts to tackle the erosion menace, more needed to be done.
“The erosion situation in Agulu, Nanka and Oko has never improved as far as control is concerned,” Okeke-Ogene lamented.
In Agulu, people in parts of the community reportedly sleep with their eyes open. In fact, they live in fear every day. Their story is similar to those of Oko and Nanka communities. Incidentally, the trio are virtually in the same area. Agulu, though in Anaocha Local Government Area, shares a common boundary with Nanka which is in another LGA.
In Awka, the state capital, gully erosion is ravaging various parts of the area. Roads, schools and businesses have been badly affected. At the moment, a gully at Amachalla village is threatening a public school in that area, Girls Secondary School, Awka. The deep gully is closing on the fence of the school popularly known as Amaenyi Girls. And if urgent actions are not taken, the erosion may surge into the school compound.
Although the Federal Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), had handled an erosion issue in that area in time last, the gully, if unchecked, may not only surge into the girls school, but also damage the previous remedial work done in the affected area.
A community leader, Mr Paulson Okeke, lamented that many residents of the capital city dont care much about the environment. Okeke further lamented that some harmful practices were contributing to the erosion issues in the area.
“When you talk about improper disposal of refuse and channelization of water and so on, I still tell you that no effort is being made.
“Improper disposal of refuse is one area where individuals are so culpable because we dont have that habit of environmental waste management.
“So, everybody disposes refuse, except there is an area where the government has provided for collection of refuse and people will comply. But if not, we just dump our refuse anywhere we see it. We dont have that habit and it is very bad,” Okeke lamented.
In Amanuke community, Awka North Local Government Area, a general hospital serving the residents of the area and others is under threat. The fence may soon be pulled down by a deep gully rapidly expanding in that area. Sadly, near the affected fence is one of the hospital structures which is the only functional building in the entire compound. Also near the fence is one of the residential buildings meant to serve the doctors and nurses they dont even have in the health facility.
In Onitsha and its environs, gully erosion is wreaking havoc. Just last year, erosion cut the ever busy Onitsha-Owerri Road into two. And for weeks, commuters encountered difficulties getting to their various locations within that axis before it was fixed.
In Nkpor and Obosi towns, near Onitsha, gully erosion is shrinking the already very small land spaces in the towns. In parts of these communities, lands, buildings, economic trees and businesses have been lost to erosion. Despite the efforts made by NEWMAP and the state government to stop the menace, the sad developments have not abated. In fact, virtually every community in the state has erosion problems.
The Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, during his first meeting with NEWMAP and World Bank officials in 2022 in Awka, lamented the devastating impacts of gully in the state, saying that it has over 900 active erosion sites.
Since 2022, the number of the active erosion sites in the state might have increased.
Ibezim, however, said that the government would tackle erosion issues in the state, and possibly reclaim lands already taken by the gullies.
The Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu, told Daily Sun that the government was sad about the impacts of the ugly development, but added that it had started tackling the menace.
Nwosu, in a statement, said that the State Executive Council (SEC) had awarded contracts targeted at tackling erosion issues in parts of the state.
He identified improper channelling of floodwaters as one of the factors responsible for the exacerbation of the gully erosion in various parts of the state.
“Anambra State has been described as the erosion capital of the world, and one of the many sites is at Agu Awka GRA that is threatening the present Government House, buildings around the vicinity and the lives of people living there.
“After due consideration of the memo presented by Engr Ifeanyi Okoma, Anambra State Commissioner for Works, ANSEC approved the award of the contract for the reclamation and control of the flood and gully erosion of the site.
“The contract was awarded at the cost of N352,106,781.81k. The work is expected to be completed in 24 weeks from the date of mobilization,” Nwosu said.
The commissioner said that an approval was also given for an additional work on the 685m length of road which, if left unconstructed, would pose a great danger to the Isuofia – Nanka road about to be built as it would create more gully erosion in that area.
He said the contract was given at the cost of N393,500,000.
Meanwhile, Nwosus counterpart in the Ministry of Environment, Felix Odimegwu, said that efforts were being made to tackle erosion challenges in the state.
Odimegwu, an engineer, asked community leaders to take charge of their environments by ensuring that practices that are harmful to the environment were not allowed.
The commissioner revealed that the ministry had drafted a community engagement framework that would facilitate the establishment of Environmental Sustainability Committees in all the communities in the state.
These committees would work closely with various stakeholders and the government to ensure the implementation of environmental mandates at the communal level.
Odimegwu advised Ndi Anambra and other residents of the state to always desilt their gutters and channel floodwaters properly as part of measures to check gully erosions in their various communities.