Follow Us on Google
Eziomume Solomon, Nnewi
Anambra State chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has called on the Federal Government in collaboration with governments of South East states to declare emergency on erosion menace in the region.
The group also urged the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) to address the multi-dimensional scale of gully erosion in the zone and Anambra State in particular.
Ohanaeze President, Damian Ogene, made the call in a chat with Daily Sun, yesterday.
Ogene said the apex Igbo organisation was worried the way erosion sites were developing and expanding in different communities in Anambra. He said if necessary steps were not taken to check the trend, many communities would be lost in no distant time.
“It is necessary we continue to call on the Federal Government and NEWMAP to intervene in problems of erosion in our state. If we keep quiet, we shall be swallowed up.
“Anambra, without doubt, has the highest number of active erosion sites in the entire country. My own community, Nanka, in Orumba North Local Government Area, has over 20 active erosion sites. The story is the same in many other communities.
“There is this fear that if something is not done urgently, more erosion sites will be created after the rainy season. We are worried that concerned authorities and agencies will go to the media to announce that works have started in some gully erosion sites. You’ll go there and will see them mobilising machinery to the site.
“After sometime, you will go there and will not see any equipment. Then, I begin to ask if the authorities awarding the contracts are aware that the works are not done,” the Ohanaeze chieftain said.
