BY REV. FR. GERALD NWAFOR
I have been privileged to have traveled around the towns in Anambra state. Maybe to be on the safe side I would say that I have covered up to 95% of the towns in Anambra state. In some of them, I lived because of my work, and in some, I would stay as a visitor and find my way back to my base.
I cannot remember any of the towns where I went, and erosion was not a source of worry. Maybe Nanka and Ekwuluobia were in the highest category, but the ones that were in the low category today would be a big challenge ten years from now. I remember the one at Enugwu Ukwu, my friend said that when they were young it was a place of fun during the rainy season, but today it has become a monster. A look at the city of Onitsha which has been the pride of the Igbo people for centuries is a sorry sight.
The roads are being washed away by erosion; buildings are falling into gullies at Nkpo and Omaba. Should I talk about Owerri Road and Okpoko it would be stating the obvious because it is visible to the blind and audible to the deaf. I do not want to ask the question, what is our government doing?
I want to plead with the government of Soludo, as the action Governor, to increase his rescue mission. If the roads that link Onitsha to the local cities and other states are cut off because of erosion, many businesses will be suffering in Anambra. The people need to see this erosion being tackled head-on by the government of the day.I went down to Ifitedunu, the home of my ancestors; it was a shock to me that the famous Nwaofia stream has become an erosion sight.
If that small town, which looks safe because it is a tableland, suffers from erosion, I can assure you that many villages are in great danger. I was driving from Onitsha to Nnobi when it started raining, and my friend kept saying that we might not be able to cross the road because of the flood that will envelop the road. In less than five minutes there was a gridlock on the road. People were waving and telling us to go back because the road had been washed away and a big gully had divided the road into two.
I could not believe how fast that happened. We decided to make a U-turn and take the Ogidi axis so we could make it back to the ancestral village. Ogidi was in a deeper danger compared to what we saw at Nnobi. We could not pass through Ogidi. The sacamory drainage in Ogidi was overflowing and cars were being submerged in the flood. We had no choice but to go back to Onitsha and spend the night.
I am not a businessman, but I had some errands to run within the state. Imagine the plight of visitors from outside the state, who came to Onitsha for business and could not go back to their locations. They may not have a place to sleep, and considering the safety and security situation in the south-east of the country today, it would be playing into the hands of the unknown gunmen and the herdsmen.Sincerely, may the government see the challenges of the ecological problems and come to the rescue of the poor citizens.
I know that there are many challenges facing the government of Anambra state and Nigeria, but if erosion should cripple the activities of the people, I do not think that the government would have the courage to go and collect taxes and levies in those areas. Some of these erosion sights do not need heavy construction and mobilization.
Simple drainage programs can go a long way to avert the dangers ahead and the dangers afoot. The flood doesn’t know the way, but we can help to direct the way because our people said that if you do not stop the flood when it is on the ankle level, there is little you can do when it gets to the neck level (Si kwo ido ka odi na ikili okpa).
It is still stitch in time, and it can save nine, to delay is dangerous. I suggest that the Governor should invite all the President Generals, (PG) and their Kings to help him locate all the erosion sites in Anambra state and discuss the immediate and long-term solutions.
Map out what the communities need to do on their own and what the government would do for the community and make sure that it is enforced. I do not subscribe to giving millions to the PGs and the Kings which they do not account for but fight over it and start killing themselves.The plan of the government must be made public, and the citizens carried along.
It should not be shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Our people have been deceived far too long by our leaders, so we demand public accountability and scrutiny. Not telling us on papers and the PGs denying it in the town halls that they did not receive any money from the government and to our surprise the government would not counter or arrest any PG or King. Let us be serious in tackling the erosion menace or the erosion would tackle us first and the consequence would be the end of our beloved state.
