The growing threat of gully erosion in the state and government intervention approach

UNYIME ROBINSON

The former first lady of  the United States,  Claudia Alta Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson once said, “The environment is where we all meet; where all have mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share”.

When one is at peace with the environment, one is at peace with oneself, for the environment is a major factor to our well-being in a society. The protection of our environment is equivalent to the security of our existence.
However, our environment is growing rapidly and has assumed an ever-greater importance in policy circles. This is for the public benefit. 

Statistics has shown that at the present time, many issues that are of interest to the general public have an environmental dimension to it. These dimensions however, range from natural disasters to concerns about climate change and global energy needs.

Furthermore, the critical initiative reflects the urging of debate, especially on pace and scale of change with respect to the nascent resource wars, environmental refugees, erosion and other water related crisis, climate change and environmental justice among others. These are just some of the many compelling environmental issues facing society today and perhaps will continue to hound it in the future.

In Nigeria, one of the key environmental challenges is erosion. A research by Dr.KinJouv of Harvard University stated that humans obtain more than 99.7 percent of their food from the land and less than 0.3 percent from the oceans and aquatic ecosystems. However, the land that holds the key to all that bothers on the livelihood of man have over the years been eroded and depleted by erosion action and other forms of land degradation. In Akwa Ibom State, because of heavy and prolonged rainfall and the loose nature of the soil, these has aggravated soil wash and accelerated formation of gullies in the State.

From record in the State Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, there are over 100 documented active gully erosion sites spread across the 31 local government areas of the state. Prominent amongst these sites are; Etim Umana; St. Luke’s Hospital, Udo Inwang; Nsukara Offot rivines all in Uyo local government area; Nkim Itam rivine in Itu local government area; Abak Local Government secretariat and Hospital road/ Midim Waterside rivines in Abak and the Ikot Adaidem and IkotUneke in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area; among others

These gullies have continued to threaten communities, medical and educational facilities, cutting off roads and highways, destroying farmlands and properties, disrupting transportation and also impacting negatively on various socio-economic activities. 

The severity of the problem has prompted the State Government to carry out emergency intervention works at different gully sites in the State. Temporary measures were considered in some cases to immediately stop gully encroachment on residential properties, sensitive government installations, roads, etc. In the cases of Eka Street and Dominic Utuk ravine areas, land reclamation and construction of storm drains, main drain and proper discharge channels were undertaken to provide permanent solutions to gully encroachment and flood relief in the surrounding areas.

According to DrIniobong Essien, Honourable Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, the State has furthermore made great effort in assessing support from the Federal Government and World Bank Assisted NEWMAP project to address the erosion challenges in the State. The Commissioner also stated that already, the Federal Government through the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has approved the inclusion of Akwa Ibom State in the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project  (NEWMAP), having met all the required conditions for participation in the Project. 

The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) is an 8-year multi-sectoral and multi-scale project that was initially targeted at seven southeastern states with acute gully erosion (Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu and Imo), while laying the foundation for scaling up to northern states and additional southern states. The project is a State-led interventions to prevent and reverse land degradation and also focuses on improving livelihoods through sustainable management of natural resources.

It is however; interesting and commendable that His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has already met with some of the necessary guidelines for the State participation in NEWMAP, which include the funding of project dedicated account; documentation of long list of priority sites of Gully erosion as well as provision of office space for State Project Management Unit (SPMU). 

It is also expected that the Project partners, Federal Government and the World Bank will oblige the Akwa Ibom State government its counterpart responsibility in view of the NEWMAP project and so, avail the state of remedial initiative as a necessary intervention that will help the state combat the growing threat of gully erosion ravaging its productive landmass.