By Rasheeda Hamidu
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has declared a state of emergency on the environment, saying gully erosion has affected more than 30 per cent of the state’s landmass and exceeded the government’s financial capacity to address.
The governor made the declaration on Thursday in Awka during a broadcast marking Anambra’s 35th anniversary.
Soludo described environmental degradation as the state’s “number one existential threat” and said human activities had significantly worsened the problem over several decades.
He said about 98 per cent of the state’s environmental degradation was linked to human activities, while blocked drainage channels, construction on waterways, uncontrolled runoff and indiscriminate soil excavation had contributed to the erosion crisis.
The governor identified Nanka, Oko, Amaokpala, Ozubulu, Ogidi, Nkpor and parts of Onitsha and Nnewi among communities affected by expanding gullies that have damaged homes, roads and farmlands.
Soludo said the crisis had accumulated over about six decades, adding that farming on vulnerable slopes, deforestation and indiscriminate sand mining were also contributing to environmental degradation.
He said dedicating the entire state budget to ecological remediation would still not be enough to address the scale of the problem, highlighting the need for residents and communities to take greater responsibility for environmental protection.
As part of the renewed environmental response, Soludo directed communities to maintain drainage channels, while urging residents to prevent runoff within their compounds, avoid construction on waterways and embrace tree planting.
The state government has also been implementing erosion control, flood management, drainage and reclamation measures across several communities, with the state describing the environmental crisis as requiring both emergency interventions and longer-term preventive infrastructure.
Recent research identifies the Agulu-Nanka gully system as one of the most extensively documented erosion systems in the region.
NatureNews notes that Anambra’s erosion crisis reflects the wider environmental vulnerability of Southeast Nigeria, where fragile soils, intense rainfall, deforestation, urbanisation and poor drainage can combine to accelerate land degradation and threaten farms, infrastructure and livelihoods.
