•Devastating erosion puts residents of Abia’s ‘Small London’ on edge, may wash away many buildings
From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
•Devastating erosion sites
A first-time visitor to Abiriba, Ohafia Local Government, Abia State, would be amazed at the magnificent structures that adorn the landscape. These have given the community the sobriquet of “Small London.”
But, beneath the beautiful scenery emanating from these mansions are horrendous gullies threatening to wash away the edifices. Such ravaging gullies are found on the Umuahia-Ohafia highway before the Abiriba Junction and at Agboji.
•Gov. Otti
A traveller from Umuahia to Abiriba would be met with a gargantuan gully erosion before the Abiriba Junction. The environmental devastation there may soon cut the ever-busy road into two.
Daily Sun gathered that some remedial work was done there by a politician from the area, yet, the effort appeared far from a permanent solution. Before the intervention, lives were said to have been regularly lost to the gully.
At Agboji, one of the three component areas of Abiriba, the erosion gully, which measures about 50 feet, has advanced menacingly, putting lives and properties in serious danger.
•Chief Okoh
The beauty of Agboji, like any other part of Abiriba, is not spared as a gully is fast reshaping the landscape. The situation is such that, if nothing is urgently done, large chunk of the community will be completely washed away.
In fact, that part of the alluring community may soon be wiped away from the surface of the earth as a result of the ferocious gully.
President-general, Agboji Community Progressive Union (ACPU), Orji Agwu Okoh, lamented that the erosion, which started in 1996, was on the verge of swallowing some buildings.
He said: “Initially, measures were put in place to control the gully but, later, it went out of hand. As it is customary with the Abiriba people and many other parts of Igboland to engage in self-help, when the erosion started, some people came together to control it.
“The menace was checkmated to a reasonable extent but, to our consternation, a few years after, another serious one developed in the same area. Before anybody realised whatn was happening, it ate so deep. Now, it is threatening to swallow some buildings.”
He lamented that the situation has gone beyond what any individual or even the community as a whole could handle. When there was erosion in Abiriba that could have cut the community into two during the time of the late Dr. Sam Mbakwe as governor of old Imo State, the then government came to their aid.
Okoh disclosed that the community had written letters to the immediate past administration of Okezie Ikpeazu for intervention, but nothing came out of the efforts: “Now that we have a government in Abia like that of Mbakwe, we are appealing to Governor Alex Otti to come to our aid before the community is swept away by erosion.”
The community leader revealed that, already, the building of one of their own, Eke Kalu, at Ndi Okoroezi’s Compound, Kamalu, Agboji, may be gone if nothing was done before the next rainy reason: “Truth is that many buildings, including that of the late Ossy Prestige, would be swallowed by the gully. In fact, the entire community will be swept away.”
Coordinafor, Abiriba Youths Council (AYC), Obiaruko Agbanyim, after visiting the area, called on both the state and federal governments to come to the aid of their people.
Eke Kalu, 63, from Ndi Okoroezi’s Compound, Agborji, Abiriba, said when in 1994 he was constructing his house, as a young man of 30, his joy knew no bounds.
He said he did not have the slightest inkling that the house, which brought him joy in his youthful age, would later become a source of despair and sadness for him due to the callousness of nature.
The man, whose house is on the verge of being swept away by the erosion when Daily Sun visited, said he started experiencing erosion there barely two years after he built the house: “By then, it was small and we tried to control it by planting bamboo tress. They grew and sort of controlled the erosion, to the joy of all.”
Unfortunately, in 2012, someone set fire to the bamboo trees and all were destroyed by the inferno, leaving the soil once again prone to erosion menace.” At this point, he said every effort made to control the gully has remained futile.
Eke alleged he has spent millions of naira to control the erosion, to no avail. He appealed to government to come to the rescue of the community before what remains of his house finally goes under: “I built that house in 1994, when I was 30, with youthful sweat. I am now 63; if, incidentally, erosion sweeps it away, my family and I will have nowhere to go to, as I’m not in a position now to start the erection of a new house.”
He pleaded that everything should be done to salvage the community from the over 50ft deep gully before the impending rainy season.
Daily Sun could not reach the coordinator, New Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) in Abia State. However, a senior official of the agency who did not want his name in print said, for now, they are not intervening in any erosion site in the state because of lack of funds: “We are waiting for the European Union (EU) for funds. We have fulfilled all their conditions for the release of funds. Once they do that, we will hit the ground.”
The source revealed that, prior to this period, the traditional ruler of Abiriba, Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu, had approached their office over the erosion in the community, but they could not act accordingly.