The African Director, International Association of World Peace Advocates IAWPA, Amb John Metchie has called for urgent global attention on the widening menace of erosion in Anambra State, Nigeria which he said has become a big threat to the lives 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 United Nations and other international organization across the world to, as a matter of urgency, do something urgent to rescue the people and their communities against erosion.
Dr. Metchie said that although Anambra erosion menace has lasted for some years, the situation is getting worse, especially after the massive flooding of 2022 that affected many communities in Nigeria.
He said that apart from wiping out farmlands and ancient landmarks, erosion is cutting community to community roads, making it difficult for rural farmers to take their produce to the farm, a development he said is about to trigger off hunger among 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 that the erosion menace is 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 hiws efforts in Making Anambra a livable homeland for the people, said the challenge posed by erosion in the state cannot be handled by any state administration and therefore the need for global community to mobilize 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 can reclaim their homeland.
Metchie said that Anambra was fast losing its arable land due to gully erosion which he said is currently active on about 1,000 sites.
He said Africa suffers from various climatic problems but in the case of gully erosion, the damage is comprehensive and total, adding that school classrooms, community health centres, houses, crops, farmlands, roads and electricity infrastructure, among others are not spared by the rampaging erosion, adding that everything collapses into the very deep gullies and nothing is 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, 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.
