Anua Erosion Control project

By Kevin Lambert and James Overly

Governor Victor Attah’s first two years in office were marked with a definite aura of disappointment. After the man had campaigned on a promise of change and jobs and bold ideas, nobody could see much in the way of results.

What the people didn’t remember was that when you build a house, you start by digging a hole in the ground and laying a foundation. If that isn’t there, the whole structure comes crashing down.
Governor Attah says, "I have not built a stadium, because I know the next governor will build a stadium." Instead he spent the first two years shoring up the foundations of the state – a careful architect would do no less.

Nowhere is this policy of careful long-term planning more evident than in the field of soil erosion. It’s not exciting, it is frightfully expensive, it rarely dominates the talk at cocktail parties, and most politicians don’t go near it. But if it isn’t addressed, the whole state might one day find itself floating, bit by bit, into the Bight of Benin.

Tropical Africa has two seasons, rainy and dry. In the southern part of Akwa Ibom state, average annual rainfall is about 11.5 feet. During the rainy season (April-October in Akwa Ibom), torrential rains easily wash away soil, flood fields and homes, and often cost lives.

Recent news reports document the danger: in nearby Delta state, erosion resulting from heavy rains collapsed a house in Ogwashi-Uku, killing two children. In Anambra State, landslides destroyed or damaged villages in Ekulobia town, causing loss of life and leaving 275 families homeless.

In a 1999 report, the International Development Research Center called the problem of widespread severe gully erosion in parts of southeastern Nigeria "a major factor hampering the government policy of increased food production, and improved living standards and economic earnings of rural dwellers." The rapid erosion rate was "destroying the physical existence and economic base of many rural and urban communities in the region."

Erosion control projects are dear, and the resulting debate highlights the struggle for resource control between the federal and state governments. In the meantime, the rains continue to erode the very basis of life in southeastern Nigeria.

Akwa Ibom’s approach is straightforward: identify the flood and erosion sites, set priorities, and fix the worst of them. So far, the state ministry of environment and mineral resources has identified over 300 flood and erosion sites. It has begun remediation and control projects for 20 of these, and is evaluating and designing flood control and erosion works for many others.

When it comes to erosion control, any African political observer would note the important difference in attitude on the part of Governor Victor Attah. He explains his project choice this way: "I see certain things around here that, if I don’t do them, nobody else will want to. So I go and do them. I need to do these things because I can see a future in them, but it may be hard to convince somebody else that we should spend the money for these purposes."