The Anambra State Commissioner for Environment, Dr Clem Aguiyi, has warned that the state’s worsening erosion and flooding problems require urgent collective action, describing the environmental situation as a “war” that threatens the state’s long-term survival.
Aguiyi, who spoke in an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Tuesday, said Anambra’s limited landmass was under increasing pressure from gully erosion, warning that failure to tackle the problem at its source could have devastating consequences for future generations.
He maintained that the erosion crisis should no longer be treated as an issue that the government alone could solve through large-scale interventions, stressing that the state was in a “war situation” when it came to the environment.
Aguiyi argued that even massive government expenditure would not be sufficient to address the scale of the problem if residents continued to engage in practices that trigger erosion and flooding.
The commissioner identified indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drainage channels, construction on waterways, deforestation and poor stormwater management as some of the practices aggravating flooding and erosion across the state.
He called for a major behavioural change among residents, particularly in the way water is channelled, buildings are constructed and vegetation is managed, insisting that the state must learn to address erosion at its early stages rather than waiting until gullies become too large and expensive to control.
According to him, preventing environmental degradation would require a combination of enforcement, responsible development, community participation, improved drainage, tree planting, protection of waterways and better stormwater management.
“Unless we begin to address the issue as a survival issue, not just any other issue, in the next 20 years we may not have Anambra to call our own because every place will be taken over and swallowed by erosion.
“If you take the whole budget of Anambra for the next eight years and put it into the erosion problem alone, you are not even scratching the surface of the problem.
“There are many baby erosions that are just trying to come up. We can deal with those ones. Don’t wait until these erosions are out of hand and then we are looking for the Federal Government to award a contract to come and intervene,” he said.
The commissioner also warned residents against building on waterways, saying such developments obstruct the natural movement of water and contribute significantly to flooding.
“People keep buying lands on these waterways, thereby causing water to leave its natural course to find a way. But water must always find a way,” he said.
He urged prospective property owners to conduct proper due diligence before purchasing land and advised residents to comply with physical planning and environmental regulations rather than attempting to influence officials.
Aguiyi further stressed that environmental regulations must apply equally to everyone, irrespective of social status, political position or traditional title.
He said citizens should not use their positions to intimidate officials or circumvent planning regulations.
“Do not throw your weight — ‘I am a Honourable, I am a chief, I am this, I am that’ — and use it to intimidate your way.
“You may do it and succeed today. But one day, a government that believes in the rule of law will emerge and such structure will be pulled down,” he warned.
The commissioner advocated the use of catchment pits, surface tanks, permeable spaces and green areas within residential developments to reduce the amount of stormwater flowing directly onto roads and neighbouring properties.
He said traditional methods of stormwater management had existed in parts of Anambra for decades and could be combined with modern engineering and technology to manage water flow more effectively.
According to him, some communities historically required individual property owners to provide stormwater-capture systems, with the objective of preventing water from leaving one compound and becoming a problem for another property or a public road.
He also called for the re-engineering of problematic areas, the proper identification and protection of floodplains, improved drainage systems, and the controlled discharge of stormwater into appropriate natural channels.
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Aguiyi also warned that climate change could bring heavier rainfall and more severe flooding, insisting that Anambra must become more resilient and capable of absorbing climate-related shocks through better planning, environmental enforcement and changes in public behaviour.
The commissioner also explained that the sanitation exercise scheduled for Saturday, August 22, was part of the state’s ongoing environmental emergency response.
He disclosed that the exercise was moved from August 29, the last Saturday of the month, because of the local government elections scheduled for that date.
According to him, the sanitation exercise was intended not merely as a one-off clean-up but as part of a broader effort to instil a culture of environmental responsibility among residents.
He said the ultimate objective was to ensure that, by the end of the emergency period, residents would better understand the connection between proper waste disposal, drainage management, flooding and erosion.
The commissioner said the problem confronting Anambra was not necessarily the absence of environmental laws but a lack of compliance and enforcement.
According to him, the state has a robust environmental legal framework, adding that the government was increasingly focused on ensuring that individuals, businesses and government agencies comply with the law.
He said some infractions had also been observed in construction projects undertaken by different tiers of government, adding that construction projects in the state must be properly engineered, particularly in relation to drainage and environmental impact.
