By Sunday Ani
The African Director, International Association of World Peace Advocates (IAWPA), Amb John Metchie, has called for urgent global attention to the widening menace of erosion in Anambra State, Southeast Nigeria, which has become a big threat to the lives and property of the people.
Metchie, who is also the Prime Minister of Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU), made the call at the ongoing United Nations Habitat Assembly taking place in Kenya, called on the global body and other international organisations across the world to, as a matter of urgency, do something urgent to rescue the people and their communities against erosion.
He lamented that the Anambra erosion menace has lasted for some years, and noted that the situation was getting worse, especially after the massive flooding of 2022, which affected many communities in Nigeria.
He said that apart from wiping out farmlands and ancient landmarks, the erosion is cutting community roads, making it difficult for rural farmers to take their produce to the farm; a development he said wad about to trigger off hunger among the rural dwellers.
Metchie, who doubles as the President General of Umueri community of Anambra State, drew the attention of the world, especially the UN-Habitat gathering to the fact that the erosion menace has vastly affected the environment and the entire ecosystem, including climate and others.
The IAWPA African Director, who commended the state Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, for his efforts in making Anambra State a livable homeland for the people, said the challenge posed by erosion in the state could not be handled by any state administration, therefore, the need for global community to mobilise resources to rescue the people before it is too late.
He added that for the investments of the state government on housing and urbanisation to yield the much expected impact, erosion must be confronted and pushed back, so that the people could reclaim their homeland.
He noted that Anambra State was fast losing its arable land due to gully erosion, which he said is currently active on about 1,000 sites.
He stressed that Africa suffers from various climatic problems, but in the case of gully erosion, the damage is comprehensive and total. He added that school classrooms, community health centres, houses, crops, farmlands, roads and electricity infrastructure, among others were not spared by the rampaging erosion, noting that everything collapsed into the very deep gullies and nothing was recovered.
He said: “Anambra State suffers from flooding and is also the headquarters of gully erosion in Africa, hence, there is need to prioritise or even out-rightly declare a climate change emergency in the state.”
Among the issues being discussed at the three-day UN-Habitat Assembly are the universal access to affordable housing, urban climate action; urban crisis recovery and localisation of the SDGs as critical to the survival of communities; and general environmental crisis.
