A dominant environmental catastrophe confronting the corporate entity called Nigeria today is the destruction unleashed on the eco-system in the oil producing communities in the Niger Delta because of the unethical oil exploration activities of the multi-national oil companies and the Government- run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC]. This man- made disaster has wrought devastating economic impoverishment on the entire fishing and farming populace in these heavily crude oil endowed but heavily neglected Niger Delta Communities including Abia and Imo States. In his book titled INEQUITIES IN NIGERIAN POLITICS Dr. Steve Azaiki clearly pointed out some of the major environmental and developmental problems in the Niger Delta to include among others, flooding and coastal erosion which according to him are related to deforestation, poor engineering, construction, excavation and inappropriate land use along River Banks; Sedimentation and Siltation which leads to the narrowing of creeks, reduction in creek depth, increase in inter-tidal zones, farming and dam construction; Degradation and Depletion of Water and Coastal Resources caused by industrial effluents, oil pollution, salt intrusion, industrial waste, watershed degradation and invasion of aquatic weeds; Land Degradation related to inappropriate waste management, oil spillage, bush burning, urban and industrial pollution, erosion and inappropriate agricultural practices; and Air pollution related to Gas flaring and acid rain, as well as gaseous emissions from a variety of sources.

The University Don went on to assert categorically that; “Every known law on Environmental safety has been violated in Nigeria. A good example of this is the volume of natural gas flared in the country.” He went on and on to highlight the critical environmental challenges confronting the rich oil endowed communities in the Niger Delta. Azaiki graphically presented the situation of the Niger Delta thus; “For centuries, the Riverine communities of the Niger Delta depended on the resources of the Sea for their economic well being. Not any more. Today, poverty and squalor are universal throughout the region due to pollution from oil production.”

Significantly, Nigeria has a fair share of natural disasters like desertification as witnessed in most far Northern States and soil Erosion as witnessed in the South Eastern states in the country with Anambra ranking as the worst affected in the country. Anambra State is synonymous with Soil erosion so much so that a great deal of landed properties is facing imminent destruction from the menacing effects of erosion caused by several natural and unnatural factors. But the question seriously begging for comprehensive answer is what is the federal Government doing to tackle the threats posed by the over five hundred active erosion sites in Anambra state which experts say require about N 17.5 Billion Naira to over come? The other day Nigerians were shocked by the revelations by the Senate Committee on Environment headed by Senator Grace Bent that most Governors in Nigeria in the last eight years lavished Billions of Naira voted and released for Ecological problems like Erosion, on entertainment of their guests. The Senate Committee Chair person who made the discovery has not taken any action to uncover the identities of these Governors who allegedly squandered Ecological funds on the entertainments of their mistresses and other guests. Section 14[1] [2] [a] and [b] of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of Democracy and social justice. It is hereby accordingly, declared that sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this constitution derives all its powers and authorities and the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.

Writing in the book titled THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE MISMANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC FUNDS IN NIGERIA the current Inspector General of Police Mike Mbama Okiro and Basil Anasoh asserted that mismagement of public funds amounted to grave economic crime against the country and should be sanctioned in accordance with the law. Citing the criminal breach of trust according to section 311 of the penal code, the authors reasoned that the mismanagement of public funds is covered by this section of the penal code even as they asserted that mismanagement of public funds amounted to stealing under the criminal code. It is safe to conclude that all those alleged to have stolen the ecological funds and put them to other frivolous or inappropriate uses ought to be arrested and prosecuted for stealing especially now that most of these governors have lost the immunity from criminal prosecution provided for by section 308 of the 1999 constitution.

Only recently, the Anambra state government cried to the federal government to release the paltry N489 Million naira approved in 2007 to tackle the challenge posed by erosion in Anambra State. The Commissioner for Environment and mineral Resources, Dr. Ifedi Okwena who made the request to the President Umaru Musa Yar’adua-led ‘Go-Slow’ federal Government warned that the non release of funds to fight the menace posed by erosion could endanger the lives of millions of people and their properties.

The question to be asked is why delay the release of this disaster control fund to the Peter Obi-led administration known for its’ prudent use of resources while so much funds are released for frivolous foreign trips by the wife of the president who in any case is presiding over an office that neither the constitution of the country nor any known law recognized. The wife of the president has only recently toured China and parts of the United States of America at the expense of public funds. Well back to the Anambra Erosion traps, the University of Lagos trained Environmental Biologist Dr. Okwena rightly reminded the federal Government that the release of that funds would not only help to commence effective control policy, but also assured people in the areas concerned that government had their interest at heart. How will you tell the people facing this imminent threat of erosion that government at every level has their interest at heart when nothing pragmatic is done to alleviate their problems? Though the commissioner told this columnist that the Anambra state government is currently working on twenty one active erosion sites out of which three sites have been completed including the two active erosion sites that the immediate past Dr. Chris Ngige-led administration commenced work on which the current Peter Obi’s government completed. This columnist agrees with Dr. Okwena that the Peter Obi-led administration is hamstrung to handle the massive erosion challenges posed by the over five hundred active erosion sites, but an unfortunate scenario is the poor appreciation of the extent of damage caused by soil erosion by both the federal Government and the Nigerian media which informs why not much is read or heard about these terrible erosion threats especially in Anambra state. The media tend to accord more attention to the activities of the wives of state governors in the South East States than focus on the developmental challenges faced by the people especially the issue of erosion. Why will the activities of the State Governor’s wife in Imo state for instance dominate our media space while the critical issues of erosion facing the people of Imo State hardly make it to any of the news pages and if at all any story would be written on the erosion threats then such will be carried in the inside page of these newspapers? Why will the pictures of weddings of children of State functionaries dominate the space of most national newspapers or the pictures of award ceremonies dominating the pages of our national newspapers while the developmental issues take the back seat, so to say? I think the society has substantially lost touch with reality of our development as a people and the readers now yearn for pictures that are irrelevant to the practical development of the society rather than pictures of erosion sites which should naturally elicit the quick response of the public office holders. To tackle the questions asked above we may need to also understudy the reasons why the Niger Delta is systematically underdeveloped in spite of its’ massive crude oil endowments. Again we will return to that book by Dr. Azaiki aforementioned. This radical university teacher and administrator on page 88 of his 305 pages book posed the questions thus; why has the Niger Delta remained underdeveloped for decades despite the fact that it contributes about 90 per cent of the nation’s wealth? Why is there stagnation in the mode of life and living standards of the people for decades? Are there concrete signs that the communities and rural dwellers in the Niger Delta are moving further away from the zone of underdevelopment? The University lecturer argued in his book that among the numerous obstacles to effective development is lack of planning and vision. Planning, according to him, is carried to select, in advance, what can lead to the realization of desired objectives. He further averred that closely linked to the lack of planning and vision which has led to the current underdevelopment of the Niger Delta, is what he chose to call “lack of target”.

In Anambra state for instance before the advent of both Dr. Ngige and Peter Obi as Governors, a certain Chinwoke Mbadinuju who identifies himself with the prefix Dr. spent his entire four years as Governor of Anambra without paying heed to the Erosion problems faced by his people. This same person who claims to have bagged a Doctor of Philosophy in God knows what field, watched callously, as students and school children stayed back at their homes for two years because of industrial action caused by his Government’s inability and unwillingness to meet its obligations to the teachers. This same person is going about parading himself as a leader of his people. What an irony? Such is the crisis of political underdevelopment that has widened the erosion traps in Anambra State known for producing some of the finest intellectuals that Nigeria can boast of.

The challenges posed by the threats of soil erosion in Anambra State as well as in other South Eastern States must be tackled frontally with a view to bringing the threats to a minimal level. We need not wait for disaster to happen before we start sending the disaster relief materials through the badly funded National Emergency Management Agency [NEMA]. The federal Government need not wait for the Anambra State government to go practically cap in hand begging for the release of the statutory disaster management and control funds before it will oblige. My father once told me that Government’s fire brigade approach to issues of emergency nature in Nigeria is partly responsible for the underdevelopment of most segments of Nigeria. How else can one explain the fact the there is currently no workable national emergency and rescue strategy and the bodies so charged with the duties of providing these emergency and rescue services like the Nigeria Fire Service and NAMA are grossly ill equipped, ill staffed and the few staff working are ill-motivated. Government must redress and remedy this situation if we ever hope to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 which is the target date fixed by the United Nations.

It is a shame that the country home of Nigeria’s former Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme is facing danger of existential extinction because of gully erosion. Hear Dr. Okwena; “Lack of funds in the state government purse is heavily militating against state governments’ effort to check the advance and erosion menace in the state.” According to the commissioner who has carried his assignments with patriotic zeal, “Many communities including Obuofia, Ukpor, Enugwu-Aja, Agulu, Nanka, Obosi, Nnewi, Amaechi, among others have all been devastated”.

This writer finds it unbelievably traumatizing that while the poor people of Anambra state are facing the threats posed by erosion, those who wangled their ways into the State House of Assembly fraudulently as legislators are playing politics with the budget passage because they belong substantially to another political party other than the one of the State Governor. Posterity will be harsh in judging these shameful conducts of these shameless so-called Anambra state legislators who have come to be known as the most notorious law breakers in Nigeria. The Anambra State law breakers, sorry, law makers forgot that POWER BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE. The preamble of the 1999 constitution authored by the military even started with the phrase WE THE PEOPLE. The common good of the people is the over all objective principle of Government.

EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND JOURNALIST IN ABUJA.