—19 Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014—
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HE formation of gullies has become one of the greatest environmental disasters facing many towns and villages in South Eastern Nigeria. This region is fast becoming dangerous for human habitation. Hundreds of people are directly affected every year with towns and villages having to be re-located. Over the years, the incidence of gully erosion has continued unabated with no suitable solution. The economic cost of the problem in the region is devastating. Although some gullies are initiated by natural cracks in the earth, most gully erosions in the area are unnatural and can be averted. Most of the causes of erosions are traceable to bad management practices such as roads without proper drainage or catchments pits, unguided cultivations that cause flooding; indiscriminate channeling of flood water, etc. Early in 2010, South East Governors demanded the imposition of a state of emergency as a necessary step towards checking the erosion menace in the region. The Federal Government responded with the setting up of the Presidential Committee on Erosion and Flood Control. They initiate huge erosion and flood control engineering works around the zone, and
monitor performance, but the rate of work is slow, no thanks to bad contractors with failed sites all over the place. Funding is not enough as old sites continue to expand and do havoc, while new sites are developing every rainy reason, calling for increased government funding and attention. The Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Emeka Eze, said the Federal Government is spending N11.5 billion to tackle only 15 erosion sites in the South East. His committee visited many sites recently , and while he had praises for the then Governor Peter Obi of Anambra for executing most of the projects in that state, he hadn’t such complimentary words for Imo State, where work on most of the sites were either not completed or poorly executed, like in UmuozaUgiri in Isiala-Mbano. Consultants failure to expose bad performing contractors have helped to exacerbate the torment of the communities due to poor work in the very few sites in Imo State. If the consultants don’t package the project properly, no matter the experience of the contractor, he would not build what he was asked to build. Mr. Eze then wondered why similar erosion projects, executed under the Shagari administration, have lasted for over 30 years while those recently constructed in the area are failing. The reason is simple,
Gully erosion is sacking villages and destroying arable lands; any adviser who misleads the Governor on erosion matters is the real enemy of the people
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the people have changed. Nigeria under Shagari is not the same with Nigeria of today. There is a conspiracy against the people. Avarice, corruption and plundering of the state coffers by leaders have taken the centre stage in Nigeria of today. Gone are the days when a governor wept for the state of things in Imo, where a governor recently built a thousand units of houses on bill boards and found people from Imo State to be clapping for him! Today, Imo has one who seems genuinely interested in moving it forward, but his prevarication in preventing the continued devastation of Imo communities by gully erosion questions his sincerity.
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ne of the decisions of the Federal Government in response to the call of South East Governors in 2010 for help in gully
The spirit of Lagos cardinals BY ANTHONY AJERO
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HE Spirit of Lagos posits four cardinal dimensions: social justice, citizenship, good neighbourliness and civic responsibility. The social justice platform says everyone deserves the same set of rules and fairness: rich or poor, educated or literate, adult or child. Citizenship speaks to the need for everyone to play by the rules, obey the laws and carry his responsibilities to self, others and the entire community. Good neighbourliness? We are our brothers' keepers. Family is where we live and work. Take care of the neighbour and his family, he will take care of you and your family. In other words, taking care of your neighbour is ultimately taking care of yourself. Civic responsibility is a way of life. Get involved in the community, volunteer, get involved, drive your areas of interest and make a change. Roads and lights are good but people make the difference: how they live, where they live, what they live for, and what they die for. Where the people respect themselves, love each other, obey the laws, contribute to the community that gives them breath and bread, there you find a great people and great progress. How did Winston Churchill inspire the English people while they were under frequent air bombardments from the mighty German forces? What magic did the legendary J. F. Kennedy utilize to produce the quantum leap that got the Americans into space within a short time after the Russians outshone them? How did Lee Kuan Yew get land-locked, tiny, uncelebrated Singapore from Third to First World? What is the secret of the Japanese and the Chinese in leap-frogging the generations-old economic stranglehold of Europe and the Americas while retaining and indeed utilizing the quintessential aspects of their culture and attitude? How did the ANC and Nelson Mandela overcome the seemingly insurmountable forces of the Apartheid
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regime? It is the people. Infrastructural development is needful. The economy is vital but it is about the people. Get the people thinking, relating and working right, and the rest will be easier done than said. I buy into the Spirit of Lagos initiative because I believe life is about people. Spirit of Lagos states that Lagos is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people who live life to the fullest at work and at play. The challenge is how best can we burnish and evolve the Spirit of Lagos? Should it be allowed to go in its natural tributaries or are the peoples, nation, and creation best served by a Lagos whose Spirit is articulated and propelled in the right direction? In today's ultra-competitive globe, is there room for a Lagos (or indeed any other city) stunted in the throes of grappling with its own diffused clarity, contradictions and subsequent suboptimal competitiveness in the global economy? I speak as a Lagosian. I must confess: First, I do not know Governor Babatunde Fashola beyond the average Lagosian. The closest I have seen him was at my son's primary school prize-giving day ceremony during his first term in office he apparently attended the same school. He came in unannounced, without fanfare and devoid of any sirens, and that struck me as a mark of a man who defines the office rather than the opposite. Second, I am of Igbo extractions and have lived in Lagos since 1972. My father was here, my son is here. My parents thought I had become so much of a Lagos Boy, they 'conspired' to bundle me to the East to be better acquainted with my roots. God bless their kind souls. Third, I am convinced that Governor Fashola is probably the most intelligent, visionary and hardworking Governor Nigeria has ever produced. Why do I believe this? The first evidence is the amount of grey hairs he has developed since he took office. Sometime ago, an international news
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BY CLEMENT UDEGBE
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Imo and gully erosion
erosion control was to bring in the World Bank to assist with the projects due to their gigantic nature. The World Bank took their time and planned projects in phases across the South -South and South East involving Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Edo and Imo states. The plan includes taking a wholistic water shed management of the areas prone to gully erosion. Typically, the states must contribute their counterpart fund for the projects in their states to kick off. They have chosen their consultants, sites, and plans, and all arrangements seem to be completed by the bank before the rains, waiting for the states to bring in their own portion of the funds commitments, to enable work to commence in the sites in their states. Of all the states involved, only Imo State is yet to pay her counterpart fund to jump-start projects in her communities. The rains are here, communities are about being sacked by gully erosion and our governor is still pussy footing over the matter. The counterpart funds, interestingly, could be paid in small tranches to make life easy for the state like Abia has been doing, beefing up their contribution. Reports show that what is required is N400 million from Imo State to make up the N1.9 billion needed. Imo’s reluctance to make this commitment promptly is inexplicable, given Governor Okorocha's rescue mission utterances. Under the World Bank plan, Orlu
I buy into the Spirit of Lagos initiative because I believe life is about people; Lagos is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people who live life to the fullest at work and at play
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magazine did a study to show how the best leaders age beyond their years while in office. The second is the almost strange fact that he has not added any weight since assuming office seven whole years ago. I term this strange because in these climes, the leanest political aspirant balloons in weight as soon as he gets into office. His wives and children seem to yearn for the "most obese in the land" title.
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f in doubt, just compare the photographs of the various Governors and elected officials when they were seeking for office, a few months into office, and a few years afterwards. It is the same all over the world: those who truly serve the people do not only fail to gain weight, they actually lose. The converse is also true: those who serve themselves on the office develop multiple chins and 'pregnant' stomachs for obvious reasons. Pray, if a man is busy day and night; burning the midnight oil; carrying millions of peoples' burdens; how does he put on weight? Do you remember the budget breakdown which showed that our first family (?) had the intention of spending N477m on foodstuff and catering material supplies for the president's office; N293m on "refreshment and meals" in his office and home. Not done, an extra N45.4m was going to be used for purchasing "kitchen equipment" just for his house. Not to be outdone, his deputy also piled it on. The second family's (?) "refreshment and meals"
has three sites for a start. One of the key and desperate sites is the Iyiuzor-Ihioma-Ogberuru Gully, which under the water shed management will bring in the Uhuala Obibi-Ochasi dangerous gully where over four houses were washed away last year, with 35 others being threatened by the rains of this year! This gully started over 25 years ago and the villagers have been battling with it since that time. The community has recommended a plan to channel and control the volume of flood water into the gully, and have made efforts seek the help from the state government, but that help is not coming. In 2001, the Udenwa government started preparatory work on the site, but the Ohakim government promptly stopped it. Now, if you speak, they label you opposition, which is crass nonsense! The rescue mission of Governor Okorocha in Imo State must touch communities, and be relevant to the needs of the people to make sense. Gully erosion is sacking villages and destroying arable lands. Any adviser who misleads the Governor on erosion matters is the real enemy of the people and government. Imo needs roads, hospitals, education and all of it, but without houses and food, it is a waste of good time and money. Okorocha should pay the counterpart fund to start more gully erosion sites management in Imo.
*Mr. Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos.
were to cost N20.8m; his kitchen equipment would cost another N45.4m; his foodstuff, catering and material supplies would knock us back another N104m and to prepare the food, that is the cooking fuel, was to cost N6.2m! I digress. My admiration of, and respect for, Governor Fashola jumped notches during the televised debate among the governorship candidates in the 2007 elections. Not only did he speak most eloquently and clearly about his vision, he blew me away with his detailed knowledge of the numerous streets in Aguda, Surulere, where I live. In describing how each street was being linked to the other, my wife and I marveled at the man's brilliance. By the way, I have lived in Surulere, Lagos, virtually all of my almost 50 years, yet, I was astonished at his enormous knowledge. Stories abound from various individuals of how he traverses Lagos at night incognito inspecting on-going projects; how he visits General Hospitals and other government facilities without warning to see things for himself; and how he still hangs out with his childhood friends after work. Have you noticed how his wife has remained in the background without the farce that has enveloped the so-called "First Lady" charade? What about their children? I am yet to sight them at any event or on the pages of newspapers. I am yet to be assaulted with the now traditional colossal propaganda racket of wasteful publicity to 'celebrate' work for which a man was elected to do in the first place? Do the work, we shall see it! Recently, a Director of NTA complained that Governor Fashola was 'bad business' for the media as he does not spend money on publicity. In doing away with many of the unnecessary, myopic, archaic, pedestrian and unenlightened behaviour of most of our political leaders, Governor Fashola has shown that the Black man is not a dim-wit. He has shown that with will and wisdom, it is possible to make Lagos - and indeed any part of Africa - a global model for positive things and Lagosians proud of their habitat. Lagos has always been a centre of excellence. *Rev. Ajero wrote from Lagos.