From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Residents and property owners within the Oba section of the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway, Anambra State, now live in dismay and apprehension as over 400 buildings, a petrol station and sports stadium, among others, are on the verge of being washed away by gully erosion ravaging the area.
Motorists are not spared from the tension and agony as one lane of the Onitsha-Owerri road in the area has been cordoned off since the gully has taken cut off the lane and is expanding by the day.
There are frequent accidents on the road too as drivers try to manovere through the area after suffering the gridlock caused by the police checkpoint on the Obosi bypass a few metres from the gully.
Also affected is a petrol station that has been cut into two and a hotel, which has commenced evacuation of moveable property for fear of being caught napping by the gully.
Among the worst hit is Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, managing director of Rojenny Stadium and Games Village, Oba, who has watched helplessly over the years as the erosion steadily swallowed his property worth over₦N200 million.
Rojenny Stadium is the oldest privately owned stadium in Nigeria and the only one in the entire South East.
Commenting on the calamity, Ezeonwuka blamed the environmental disaster eating up his stadium on the gully erosion control work going on at the Oba axis of the Owerri-bound lane of the Onitsha-Owerri expressway. He said the flood path, which led to the collapse of one lane of the road was blocked to prevent the collapse of the second lane, thereby diverting floodwater to the stadium.
He lamented: “The stadium, which I built with my youthful energy for the development of youths in Nigeria, is being destroyed by flood. As I am talking to you now, properties worth over N200 million have been ruined because floodwater in the area now hits the stadium.
“The control work going on has blocked the original channel, which led to the collapse of one lane, now the entire flood is channelled to my stadium.”
Johnny Obinnwa, the manager of the stadium, corroborated the account of Ezeonwuka. He said every little rain now generates floods that rise above the culvert at the entrance because of concrete barricades that were used to stop vehicles from plying the collapsed portion.
“Water now pours into the stadium from the expressway, our perimeter fences have all collapsed. The Ogilisi Garden is destroyed, the impact is much and the cost is huge.
“The flood causing this gully erosion flows from Ichi, Nnobi, Ojoto Uruagu-Oba communities in the Idemili South LGA and because the gutters and water channels are too small for the flood it overflows, carrying the channels away and dumping them into the gully erosion.
“As you can see, the walls of the Rojenny Games Village have collapsed. Some parts of the spectators’ stand in the stadium have also collapsed and the lawn tennis and handball pitches, courts Olympic size swimming pool have been submerged by flood.
“The stadium has a capacity of 30, 000 spectators but with what is happening now, we need a lot of work to do to protect the sporting facilities that are in the Games Village.
“This is a facility that has hosted over 20 national football teams, including the Super Eagles, Under-20 and Under -17 teams. Today, the flood is ravaging everywhere and, as you can see, the gully erosion behind the stadium is growing and it would soon link the gully erosion that has cut off the Onitsha – Owerri Expressway,” he said.
Chairman of Idemili South Local Government Area, Iyom Amaka Obi, who spoke after visiting the erosion ravaged area, noted that all measures taken to checkmate the ravaging erosion has been destroyed by flood water. She added that the water channels constructed about three months ago has also collapsed into the gully.
“When the state government came here with their counterparts from the Federal Government, it was not as wide and as deep as this and as the rains continue it will keep widening.
“As it stands now, over 400 buildings and several hectares of undeveloped lands are at risk and the worst of it all is that the gully would first of all eat deep under the expressway, leaving the road hanging like a cliff and at the mercy of road users.
“When it started, we had to dump refuse into the gully last year and with the help of Anambra State Waste Management Agency (ASWMA), we used the refuse to control the flow of flood but the owners of those empty lands stopped us from doing that. They accused us of trying to take over their property so we stopped and ASWAMA had used the refuse to check another erosion site in Nnewi.
“Since we stopped, the gully has deepened and many houses are going down every day and with the rate of rain fall only God can save those buildings and their owners,” she lamented.
Senator representing Anambra Central, Chief Victor Umeh, and a team of Anambra State government officials consisting of the Chief of Staff to Governor Soludo, Ernest Ezeajughi; commissioners for works, Ifeanyi Okoma; environment, Felix Odimegwu; and press secretary to the governor, Christian Aburime, have also visited the erosion sites and begged the Federal Government for an urgent intervention.
During their inspection tour, it was discovered that the erosion sites also spanned from the Upper Iweka, Onitsha end of the Onitsha/Owerri federal dual carriage way, starting from the Metallurgical Training Institute, MTI, Onitsha towards Rojenny Stadium down to Oba, Akwukwu, Oraifite an Ozubulu along the dual carriage way.
Commenting on the development, Senator Umeh promised to, as a matter of utmost urgency, raise the matter at the floor of the National Assembly with a view to attracting the attention of the Federal Government.
He also called for the declaration of emergency on erosion in the South East and Anambra, in particular, noting that the menace of erosion was depleting the small landmass of the zone which he described as the erosion capital of Nigeria.
Ezeajughi lamented that there were over 1,000 active erosion sites in Anambra State alone, adding that there was an urgent need to tackle the Onitsha-Owerri Road erosion, as the movement of goods and persons would be stalled once the other part of the road caves in.
He said: “We have over 1,000 active erosion sites in Anambra State. This is just one of them. We are acting on an emergency because this Onitsha-Owerri Road by Oba erosion wash-off is a major devastation which requires urgent attention. There is no doubt that the people bearing the hardship most are people of Anambra, and as such, government is required to fast track action.”
Okoma said the state government in already in talks with the Federal Ministry of Works and Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) but noted that such normally takes a long process which shouldn’t be the situation now because it is an emergency situation that requires immediate action.
hen contacted for comments, the Anambra resident engineer’s representatives, Federal Ministry of Works, Martins Oluwaseyi, said reports on the gully situation in the aforementioned area has been documented and forwarded to the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja. He expressed hope that feedback and work will commence soon on the site.
