The Chess Play With Human Lives In The Face Of Natural Disaster The Chess Play With Human Lives In The Face Of Natural Disaster
By Ekene Odigwe The disaster started in the early seventies and has defied all manners of communal effort made in the past to combat... The Chess Play With Human Lives In The Face Of Natural Disaster

Erosion debris

By Ekene Odigwe

The disaster started in the early seventies and has defied all manners of communal effort made in the past to combat it, the erosion threats takes its roots from Catherine rest house road (near beach junction) Nsukka that serves as confluence center for all flood collection in Nsukka main town. From there, it drives down to Uwenu and Uwani Onuakachi, passing through Ugbene Agu to Aguneze, and then it splits into various channels to Ihe Uno, Amebo, Uzoma, Amuamu and Ekoi villages, together they form Alor Uno community of Nsukka local government in Enugu, a south-eastern state of Nigeria that are experiencing severe climate disaster as a result of increased rainfall and flooding the entire town generates and now so many people have become environmental refugees.
The closeness of the villages to the rest house has multiplied the harsh effects of the menace on the villagers. The families of late Obodo Nweze, Omeje Ogbobe, Patrick Ngwu, Ugwoke Onah, Thomas Nweze are few among many other families taking refuge somewhere else because of this menace. It is on record that this environmental threat has sent not less than one hundred and forty eight (148) families parking from their ancestral homes, as at the time of filling this report flood had submerged what used to their respective houses.
Hon. Clement Ukwueze, the chairman of the affected community explains that they have written to the former and present Enugu state government administrations and Ministry of works yet nothing has been done.
In the past, various representations were also sent to subsequent regimes at the local level seeking their help in combating this issue. Starting from 2000 when Dr. Dan Shere was the local government chairman, during that time he led partnership with the community and brought bulldozers to open up flood channels, this action gave the affected villages short relief only for the erosion to resume closing up its channels with heaps of sand and other debris that have made it impossible for easy flow of water. As a result of the blockages, the erosion started finding its way into their individual homes.
Well, that’s not the only attempt made by this community. In 2014, they sent an SOS mail and also made a representation to the former Executive chairman of Nsukka local government council, Hon. Charles Ugwu whom after visiting the site promised to draw the attention of the state government stressing that the weight had surpassed the capacity of a project one local government would embark on. Unfortunately that was a political excuse. Caretaker chairmen came and left, letters were written and sent but just like their predecessors, nothing was done.
In recent time the massive construction of road network going on in Nsukka metropolis heightened the strength of the erosion and its effects on these people. Homes are submerged and humans have become environmental refugees, letters and representations made but no response received.
Hon. Nkechi Omeje Ogbu, Member representing Nsukka west at the Enugu state house of Assembly said she is aware and was even part of the committee on urban renewal that had visited these sites several times but she does not have the facts together well, the Chairman Committee on urban renewal Arc. Offor as at the time phone of filling this report hasn’t picked nor returned any calls or messages.
Sustainable development has an environmental component, and three of the SDGs numbers 13, 14, and 15 deals directly with the kind of environment we want to maintain on Earth. So we cannot allow people to continually politicize policies, partnerships and constituency projects especially if these issues bother on human life and shelter and in this case will help in saving a community from extinction.
According to Dr Pat Asadu the Honorable member representing Nsukka Igboeze South in the federal house, he is not aware of such a case nor has it ever been brought to his attention and redirected that the state assembly member representing Nsukka west, Hon. Nkechi Omeje Ogbu will be in know as it is within her constituency.
In human interactions with the environment, we often hear some scientists claim that we are living in the Anthropocene, a term that loosely translates to The Age of Humans. Paul Crutzen, who was one of the three chemists, awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering that human activities were impacting the ozone layer around the Earth, introduced the term in the early 2000s unfortunately as the rest of the world are discovering this and tinkering along the line of proffering solutions, developing countries like Nigeria are still claiming ignorance and playing politics with human lives.
The head climate Change office of Enugu State Mr. Nnamdi Arum narrated how this erosion might have started at a further place and since Alor Uno is in a slopping area, the possibility that the “finger” may be extended to where it is presently and will also continue to expand, claiming more land, people or anything standing on its way. On a broader scale Mr. Arum explains that the greenhouse gases are on the increase and in the case of Alor Uno all flooding comes together to create such an impact, he suggested that humans can work around in achieving the Paris Agreement, which is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020, by starting to address this issue as they occur rather than waiting till they become so big.
Mr. Alphaeus Odo, the Controller Federal Ministry of environment is claiming no knowledge of such impact and asked that the community sends in a formal report to their office recounting their losses. Obviously he couldn’t interpret what qualifies an environmental menace to be called emergency or how his agency does respond to this type of Natural emergency?
Consultant on Environmental Impact Assessment and Biodiversity issues for Federal Ministry of Environment Abuja, Nigeria and a member of the African Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ACCAI) with expertise in Biogeography and Biodiversity, Prof. Philip Ogbonia Phil-Eze, stated that his office has conducted a geotechnical survey and identified a site for earth dam where they will now harvest flood and when that happens the water harvested will no longer remain there or drive people from their homes rather it will now serve domestic purposes and irrigation. He opined that the soil needs time to rejuvenate its lost nutrients and that is something that will take time and also something that will ensure that there’s a vegetation cover over the soil for a given number of years because soil is a dynamic thing, it grows and matures over time within which the nutrients are restored but that can only happen if the flood is prevented.
In all it would seem this is a game of chess, sacrifice your pawn and save your queen but at what price and for how long will this sacrifice continue? These people are part of a town that depends on farm produce and with the worsening flooding costing 1.4 percent of sub-Saharan GDP each year according to UN Environment one is left to wonder if our government at all levels have the political will to bridge this gap.

. Odigwe is OAP @coalcity929fm Advocate @afrikaYM Fellow @YALINetwork  SDGs Champion & Social media campaigner

#Activista with 7 honours & 3 Fellowship awards

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