Statesmen and people who served a country at some of the highest possible levels deserve honour both when they are alive and when they are dead. This is one of the reasons behind the call from Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo for an urgent attention to the environmental problems in Oko, Nanka and Agulu in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The country home of former Vice President of Nigeria, the late Dr Alex Ekwueme is located in Oko. The town is plagued with gully erosion believed to be as deep as the Grand canyon.
On Thursday, the Ohaneze Ndigbo appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari through the Federal Ministry of Environment attend to the situation before it will get out of hand, considering the huge contributions the late Icon has made to keep Nigeria as one.
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A letter titled “Save Us From The Ravaging Gully Erosion in Ekwueme’s home” addressed to President Buhar contained the appeal.
“The communities of Oko, Nanka and Agulu are constrained to notify you of the grave situation and the havoc being unleashed on the affected communities by the erosion menace, which has continued to escalate, resulting in loss of lives, households and threatening the existence, especially for the poorest people in the three communities,” the letter signed by Chief Demian Okeke Ogene, Anambra State chairman of Ohaneze Ndigbo read.
In the past, representatives of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), under the Federal Ministry Environment have paid visits to the three communities and mobilised the people to support their preliminary works like engineering design, survey, resettlement plan and environmental impact assignment. They sensitised the people on how they can help to stop erosion and how they can relate with the contractors when they eventually start work. The copies of the studies are still with the community leaders after approval by Anambra State Government, Federal Government of Nigeria and the World Bank.
But work is yet to be commenced on the affected site.
“The rate at which the erosion is ravaging is better imagined than seen. You might be surprised that since NEWMAP visited last year, more houses have caved in to the deep abyss of the dreaded gully,” Ogene said.
To avoid dishonouring the memory of the late vice president and “because of the country’s reputation in the eyes of the World Bank, Ogene appealed to the president to act fast before the rainy season.
