Gully Erosion: A Renewed Hope? By Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe New York, USA February 16, 2006 Many have written on the subject of gully erosion and the calamities that follow the continued neglect and those that have befallen the folks who have unfortunately found themselves at the mouth of this impending danger. Others have also written deman ding for a lasting solution from the political heads in the seat of leadership to get-up and do something meaningful to aid the alleviation of this impending calamity, while some other writers chose to chronicle the historical aspects of the gully erosion, instead. What is particular or rather peculiar is that while most of these concerned writers have written of their true concern, very few of them have explained why gully erosion poses a potent quagmire.
The fact of the matter however is that gully erosion has impacted the
south
eastern region of Nigeria adversely more than other part of the country,
and
like most other issues pertaining to the region, it has suffered
its share of
neglect in magnitudes that conjures up the days of the Nigerian civil war.
The point to be made here is that the problem of gully erosion became
principally symptomatic of the sorry state of mind Ndi Igbo developed
following the end of the war. The state of mind points to nihilism –
hatred of
ones culture or ideals. So the contention is that the neglect of gully er
osion
by Ndi Igbo is just a sign of a bigger problem, it points to a people
suffering
from cultural defeat in hands of mental slavery.
However the light seems to be flickering into a full glow, in that the
spirit of
Ndi Igbo appears to be showing signs of recovering from the tentacles of
nihilism and xenophobia directed at self.
Ndi Igbo are developing a can-do attitude over the issue of erosion as the
list
of displaced families continues its growth each year. With their awareness
that the federal government has shown little care towards the abatement of
gully erosion in the said region, Ndi Igbo in the Diaspora have mounted an
effort to create a renewed awareness for erosion gul lies scattered around
the
region. This was sparked by a recent agitation by the various Igbo
organizations in America, in particular during the Association of Anambra
State USA {ASA-USA} Convention of October 2005 held at Houston Texas {of
which the Governor of Anambra was in attendance along with several house
of assembly members}, it was during this convention that a duo
presentation
on ecological menace in Anambra State and Igbo land in general, caused
tears to stream down the cheeks of many in attendance, including some of
assemblymen. These teardrops are believed to have helped spark the
rejuvenation of the cause for gully erosion to the current height that has
not
been seen in a long while.
While the awareness for gully erosion is gradually catching fire, the many
political bodies in Nigeria appear to be gradually picking up steam over
the
possible political di vidend generated by this renewed awareness push.
This
is evident through the somewhat surprising response to the recent
displacement of families in Aguata Orumba Local Government Area and in
Nnewi by the various political representatives in Anambra, the same is
evident in Imo State as the gubernatorial candidate for 2007, Chief
Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba began orienting his campaign around the subject
of erosion abatement and awareness; he states that it will be one of the
primary functions of his administration.
The representatives of Abia State have been making calls to the federal
government for more funds towards abating the spread and danger of gully
erosion. A particular case is that of Isuikwato Local Government Area. In
late
January 2006, members of the Senate Committee on Special Duties and
Conflict Resolution described the erosion and landslide sites in Isuikwato
L ocal Government Area of Abia State as a 'national disgrace. According to
the
chairman of Isuikwuato Local Government, Chief Charles Ojukwu, the "high
powered visit" to the sites in 2001 by some of the federal political
players,
resulted to nothing to date. He continued to state that the landslide had
cut
off the “villages in Oguduasa clan, from the rest of the state, while Our
Lady
of Fatima Catholic Church, Oguduasa Secondary School and a filling
station,
near the Orumalo Oguduasa landslide site”, appear on the verge of
submerging into the erosion gully. This particular erosion gully is
estimated
to be growing at the rate of 500 meters per year.
I should note that the federal government has been responsive to some
extent to the States impacted by gully erosion but its response has been
selective and negatively too political. The case of Anambra exemplifies
this
partiality. A nambra State is estimated to be the worst hit as per number
of
gully erosion sites and the potential to cause financial and human
casualty,
yet the federal government have selectively funded other abatement
programs in other States with lesser erosion problems. According to
documented evidence, up to 1000 major gullies are estimated to be in
Anambra alone, which more than doubles the amount of gully erosion found
in other States. However, Anambra State government did not give up due to
the federal neglect.
The Anambra State Governor - Chris Ngige on July 2005 in collaboration
with the Commissioner for Environment, Mineral Resources, Science and
Technology, Dr. Okey Enemuo launched the "Green Cities - Plan for the
Planet" project aimed at reinforcing the need for environmental education.
At the occasion, the Governor rated Anambra State as the most devastated
stat e in the South East geo-political zone and throughout the federation
while highlighting that the State government's lean purse is limited and
cannot carry it alone. The federal government on the same July 2005
approved about N4 billion contracts for erosion control and water supply
projects for Yobe, Enugu, Abia and Plateau states. Yobe State got the
largest
chunk of the fund with over N3.6 billion approved for water supply and
another N12.6 million for the construction of gully erosion structure in
Potiskum. By September of 2005, it was reported that of over 150 families
have been displaced by erosion menace in Ekwulobia town in Anambra
State. It raises the question as to why the disparity?
T his disparity is explained away by some experts as rooted in the dispute
between the Governor of Anambra State and the President of Nigeria, that
the tussle for power between Governor Ngige and the self proclaim
godfather
Christian Uba was largely the cause for the undue neglect. Some others
claim the fault lies with the lacking ability of the federal
representatives to
properly secure the necessary funds for their home State, that most of the
representatives careless or know very little of the role they are supposed
to
play as per the erosion gully that has gradually eaten up the people in
their
district. The thing is that each assertion may be equally true. Citing the
case
of Agulu-Nanka/Oko-Ekwulobia axis exposes this in a whole-sell manner. It
displays a disgrace for all the politically elected representatives, who
supposedly represent the people of that “land” area.
Fol lowing the years after the end of the Second World War, the colonial
masters found it necessary to arrest the problem and thus launched an
intensive campaign of cashew plantation. Through this campaign, the
erosion site in Agulu/Nanka site was effectively arrested – and the area
was
nicknamed “Agu Cashew”. The same was the case at Enugu “Ninth Mile”
where the situation was arrested using “Melina trees”. Immediately
following the advert of independence and self administration, these
pertinent programs fell to the wayside. All hell broke loose. The cashew
plantation that was formally catered and nurtured was now abandoned and
ignored. Local communities who saw the pattern of behavior on the part of
these political representatives began feasting on these trees, chopping
them
down for use as firewood. They began intensive collection of all the
cashew
{nuts} seeds that would normally be left on the floor to geminate more
cashew trees thus halting further growth. Also, land development and
faulty
house construction increasingly begun an aggressive encroachment into the
land where these cashew trees were previously standing. While this was
going on, the politicians were busy auguring for their share of the State
and
Federal treasury. It was simply a caustic mix of faulty leadership and
nihilistic follower-ship.
A new found hope with the renewed energy towards tackling the quagmire of
erosion; harnessing it into a lasting exuberance able to execute and
coordinate all the required aspects of the gully erosion abatement program
would enable attainability. Because erosion gullies are hidden deep in the
bushes of the rural communities, and not as public as roads and other
public utilities; it is necessary to devise a better method of holding our
elected representatives accountable for the continued awareness
on the
ongoing calamity of erosion. Perhaps as the collective prayers of Ndi Igbo
in
the Diaspora continue to percolate, the lasting answer to the gully
erosion
dilemma will find its way home. |