Erosion: My Constituents No Longer Sleep With Two Eyes Closed, Says Anambra Lawmaker

Raymond Ozoji, Awka

Hon. Emeka Aforka, Deputy Majority Leader of the Anambra State House of Assembly and member representing Orumba-North state constituency has told Governor Willie Obiano to declare a state of emergency in Orumba-North local government area over erosion devastations.

Aforka said erosion sites at Oko and Nanka areas of Orumba-North were nightmares and that if proactive remedial actions were not taken, erosion would subdue and submerge not only Oko and Nanka but the entire council area.

He said those living at Nanka and Oko no longer sleep with their two eyes closed over fear of possible landslide.

The lawmaker, who disclosed this to our correspondent in his office at the legislative complex Awka yesterday, emphasized that Orumba-North was in dire need of federal, state and transnational assistance to tackle erosion and other ecological problems in the constituency.

He said, “Erosion menace in Orumba-North is a war between life and death. It is either we win the war or the war will win us as a people. Erosion sites at Oko and Nanka in Orumba-North constituency are nightmares.

“Many lives have been lost. Many houses destroyed because of the menace of erosion. So I want the authorities in charge to quickly come to our aid so that the people of Orumba-North especially those in Oko and Nanka axis can sleep with their two eyes closed.”

Although Aforka recognised the fact that the state government cannot handle erosions single-handedly, he equally sought the assistance of the federal government, donor agencies as well as the international community to complement the efforts of the state government in addressing erosion devastation and other environmental challenges in his constituency.

The Deputy Majority Leader also drew the attention of the state commissioner for works to the ongoing road projects in Orumba-North local government area. He said that the works commissioner should embark on an inspection tour of roads under construction in the area stressing that the roads are Umuagu-Obeagu-Ufuma road where he alleged that erosion was on the verge of washing off a village in the area.

The lawmaker also disclosed that the road from Ajali to Ogbunka required the attention of the works commissioner to alleviate the sufferings of his constituents even as he pointed out that the road connecting Awgbu-Ndiukwuenu was another road begging for government attention. Agbiligba-Nanka-Umuona-Isuofia road and Oko-Ndiowu road were roads he implored the works commissioner to revisit and address the challenges on them.

He said that the road in front of Federal Polytechnic Oko was really terrible to the extent that on the eve of his inauguration into the seventh assembly, a lorry crushed one tricycle loaded with passengers and according to him, no life was spared in the incident and that many lives were being lost on a daily basis due to the sorry state of the said road.

Though he noted that the road in question was a federal road, he appealed to the state governor to use his good relationship with the federal government to draw the attention of relevant authorities to it to reduce the spate of catastrophe on the road.