Bringing Relief to Communities in Edo State through Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project initiative.

By Lawrence Adebayo Thomas

There is that adage that says “The discovery of gullies on Mars may well have been a propitious sign that the planet once had water”, but here in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, gullies caused by the combined effect of water and wind erosion as well as human factors are wreaking havoc on life and property, with a heavy devastating effect on the livelihood and economy.

The severity of environmental degradation prompted the Nigerian Government to seek urgent support from the World Bank to tackle the challenge of severe erosion and its impacts in seven States of south-eastern Nigeria on a pilot basis: Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu and Imo.

The Bank responded through the US$500 Million IDA-financed Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) and has mobilized a strong coalition at national and international levels to tackle and reduce soil erosion on a war footing.   The project became effective on September 16, 2013 and has received $3.96 Million from the Global Environment Facility and $4.63 Million from the Special Climate Change Fund.

According to Mr. Chikelo Nwune, NEWMAP National Coordinator, the significant development objective of the project is “To reduce vulnerability to soil erosion in targeted sub-watersheds.”   He said  this innovative, multi-sectoral project has commenced the financing of  State-led interventions to prevent and reverse land degradation, “initially focusing on gully erosion sites that threaten infrastructure and livelihoods in seven States: Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo Enugu and Imo and subsequently scale out to other States nationwide.”

The spatial pattern of degraded lands – gullies and areas exposed to erosion and mosaic of grassland, farmland and bare surfaces – suggests they are localised to areas around the eastern escarpment and around the Awka-Orlu cuesta.  Erosion sites, gullies and mosaic of grassland and bare surfaces are extensive around the eastern escarpment which stretches from the Isiama-Ohafia axis (Abia State) through Nguzu-Eda (Ebonyi)/Okigwe (Imo) areas to Agwu, Udi and Nsukka areas in Enugu State.  The deepest and most prominent gullies are localised to areas around Umundugba-Orlu-Urualla-Aguata-Abagana-Akwa areas on the cuesta (stretching from Imo to Anambra States).  This is where some of the most dreaded gullies including the Agulu-Nanka-Ekwulobia and the Urualla-Orlu-Ikwerre complexes are found.  Some mosaic of grassland, farmland and bare surfaces are also found in some areas around the northwest of Edo State (around Auchi).

Nwune noted that NEWMAP entry into Edo State has been made more manifest with the proposed intervention in three prominent project sites: Oshiobhugie Plain Erosion Site, Auchi in Etsako West Local Government Area; Queen Ede Secondary School Road Gully Site,  Benin in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area and the reclamation of Ekehuan gully site in Egor Local Government Area.
“It was eye-opening to see the severity of damage caused by erosion”, said Benoit Bosquet,  World Bank’s Africa Region Sector Manager for Environment in West Africa who led the implementation support mission to Edo State in early 2014.

“The NEWMAP project is breaking new ground by mobilizing funding, technical assistance, and local expertise including community engagement to tackle the pressing environmental problems.”

While conducting world Bank officials on inspection of the sites, Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo State assured residents of Queen Ede, in Ogbeson quarters, Benin City that Government would do everything possible to arrest the gully erosion ravaging the area, saying the State Government is in partnership with the World Bank on the problem and that Government has already set aside enough fund to address the menace.  The Governor commended the engineering designs for the various sites, which he noted were painstakingly done to ensure lasting solution to land degradation.

Already civil works activities have commenced in two of these sites.  Most especially in Queen Ede and Ekehuan while the big one, in Auchi will soon take-off as soon as the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) is concluded.

While speaking on the activities in these two sites, Engr. John Adisa, the Edo State NEWMAP Project Coordinator noted that work has progressed appreciably.  The Queen Ede gully has been sand filled and raised up appreciably.   He commended the understanding and cooperation of the Communities.

According to him, the State Government has been very supportive.   He noted that the Project in the State could not have rapidly progressed but for the commitment and efforts of the State Governor and the knowledgeable supervisory roles of the Honourable Commissioner for Petroleum and Environment, Prince Clem Agba.  He noted that the sSate Government so far, has financially supported the project with a sum of N800, 000,000.00 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) counterpart fund contribution, with assurances for more support as the project prepares to tackle the greatest threat to human existence an livelihood in the Oshiobhugie Plain Erosion Site of  Auchi in Etsako West Local Government Area.

The project is expected to have highly positive environmental impacts: (i) It will address erosion at selected locations beginning with sites dominated by gully complexes; (ii) It will develop and establish measures to prevent gully formation in the forms of guidelines for road and drainage design, and environmental guidelines and urban and watershed management planning; and (iii) It will restore degraded lands to productive uses and eliminate threats to water and soil quality, safety in settlements, and safe and efficient road travel.  In addition, it will support the climate change agenda in Nigeria, increasing Nigeria’s capacity to promote low-carbon, climate-resilient development.  NEWMAP has, however, been re-classified as a Category A project for environmental assessment, in view of its scale, the types of problems it addresses, the possibilities of significant adverse impacts if the interventions it supports are not correctly designed and implemented, and the challenges presented by the need to strengthen institutional capacities at Federal, state and local levels, where the functions of environmental enforcement and NEWMAP implementation are closely linked.

So far, with respect to technical expertise required, the  implementation of  the gully control measures and civil works interventions  in Edo state and Project wide has been  reinforced by three consultancies at the highest standards available: (i) a civil engineering supervision and design consultancy, (ii) an international project management consultancy, and (iii) a third-party M&E consultancy whose main role will be to collect, analyze and disseminate lessons coming out of the different states during implementation. The strategic direction of the project and all interventions is overseen by the State Steering Committee, with implementation by the State Project Management Unit (SPMU). Guidance is provided by the Federal Project Management Unit (FPMU) under the watch of Federal Steering Committee comprising 17 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).