Nsukka Community In Ecological Trauma

The gloomy countenance of the natives of Achom in Alor-Uno, Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State is at variance with the villagers’ signpost with the inscription, “Welcome to Achom Village.” The picture of Achom is far from welcoming.

The signpost, already consumed by grasses, stands beside a gully, which has taken over the once-serene road leading to Achom Village known for hospitality and farming. The road is no more, and currently serves as a water channel whose echoes resemble vibes of the Atlantic Ocean. This is the result of channelling of flood harvested from over nine-kilometre Nsukka-Okwutu road to Achom in 2002 during the construction of the road by the government of Enugu State.

The inception of the gully is behind a lonely house occupied by Mrs Gloria Ogbonnaya and her family. Beside hers is a two-room apartment habited by rodents, having been abandoned by the original owners due to the flood.

“The flood has killed us,” Gloria told THE WHISTLER in a depressed voice. “We are waiting to be sacked. Once it starts raining, we stay unease. They diverted the flood to us. We have been heaping sand to prevent the spills from coming to our house, but it has not helped matters. It began gradually, and it has escalated to gully that can swallow two electric poles.”

The outlook of Robinson Attah, from the same Achom, portrays the mien of an irritated man. Mr Attah was seated in his dilapidating shop, and managed to welcome this reporter saying “the flood has dealt a huge blow on my family.” He stakes some walls of his shop to avoid caving in. The foundation is already bare, and the shop stands like a rootless iroko tree.

Robinson said, “Behind the shop are my residence and my son’s abandoned building. The flood passes right by the foundation of his uncompleted building. There were occasions when the flood submerged our bedrooms in the night. You are simply woken up by the flood, and you are forced to carry the babies up, and stand while the room is filled up with water. In the case of my business, it is already a ghost.”

A peep into the abandoned house of his son depicts the imagery of Wordsworth’s classic poem, “The Waste Land”. It has gotten to the lintel level, remaining the roofing. Grasses and little creatures have found the rooms comfortable. Debris powered by the flood heap around the back of the building. Attah said he has nowhere to go, and simply waiting for the Godot.

Flooding has stopped our farming activities – youth leader

Farmlands of the community are being washed away on a daily basis. This makes planting crops on them a futility. Calls on youths to engage in farming are no portion of the people of Alor-Uno. Their food security is threatened.

Uchenna Daniel, a youth leader, looks melancholic in front of his house, which is already cut off from his closest neighbours. Uchenna said, “The flood washes away the top soil, including our plantations. We are discouraged from farming to avoid labouring in vain. I can take you round to witness how planted crops are carried from our farms to far distances by floods. Some empty lands are becoming dumpsites as the flood evacuates logs of wood, stones, and anything from different places to our community.”

We don’t bring our friends to our village because of shame – Eze

Emmanuel Eze is a socialite, although his locale portrays a situational irony. His hairstyle and sports wears make him a ‘guy man’ in a squalid environment. Eze said, “We host our friends outside our place so that floods won’t harm them in case rain begins to fall. If it rains, the flood comes from all angles. So, we don’t risk asking our friends to visit us down to the village. We are also afraid when it rains at night. How can you ask anybody to sleep over when you are not sure that your room won’t be submerged? Houses also collapse randomly. At times, there won’t be rains in Alor-Uno, but still the entire area is flooded, accompanied by violent sounds.”

Values of land at Alor-Uno are worse off. In a society where land agents become instantly rich from land deals, Alor-Uno offers no prospects for such. “Some plots around here are priced below N100, 000 while the same size in a nearby Nsukka metropolis is sold at N15m and more,” Eze lamented, adding that, “Investors can’t invest a dime here, not even for piggery.”

It flooded my pot of soup – Mrs Attah

Approaching Esther Attah was met with distrust. In her mind, nothing positive would come from re-telling her flood woes. She gave in after some persuasions. “We don’t sleep whenever rains set to fall,” she begins. “We are afraid of being submerged in our bedrooms. Such has occurred before. The flood covered my pot of soup and beds. We had to evacuate to neighbouring places.” She paused before continuing, “If it rains, school children would be required to stay back until the pathways are clear from the flood. If it sweeps anybody, the destination is Agbero, another village that has been threatened.”

A Case Of ‘Double Wahala’ For Alor-Uno

Afro-king Fela Kuti describes ‘double wahala’ as a state of quagmire. While Achom, alongside Umuowelle, Amaho Ugbele, Agbero, Ogbeke and Adani villages rue their pains because of the flood ravaging them from the eastern sector, the other villages in Alor-Uno hitherto free from the flood disasters got ‘amalgamated’ into the ‘wahala’ around 2015. The Enugu State government, had in 2014, awarded a multi-million-naira drainage contract to Anbeeze Services Ltd to properly channel all sources of water from some parts of Nsukka metropolis to a safe zone. The intervention solved seventy percent of all flood-related problems in the university community, including the flood that would have threatened the Nsukka haven of Nigeria’s first president, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. While the metropolis got the reprieve, it was the turn of the remaining villages of Alo-Uno to become the scapegoat.

The latter-day flood is currently bombarding the community from the southern part, particularly at Amebo, Ihe, Ihe-Uno, Egu-Ihe, Amadim and Umu Amu. In the past three years, the inhabitants of these homogenous villages know no peace as their farmlands, buildings and roads have been destroyed. Many have already abandoned their ancestral homes.

Catherine Omeke, from Umu Amu village, looks dejected. With her five-room apartment already gone by, her son built another in an elevated topography about two years ago. “We rebuilt another one here, and already the same disaster is looming again,” she narrates.

Near her endangered house stands a moribund building.

She said, “This used to be the house of Izu Nwa Ezemma. The house was destroyed by the flood. Even our road is being cut off. This problem affects many households.”

Some corpses have been recovered here – native

Alor-Uno has not lost a native to the flooding, but it is not free from corpses. Boniface Ugwuanyi, in his crutches, was eager to tell his story: “Some corpses of people killed by the flood from Nsukka and other places are pushed to us. When people are swept by the flood and their remains are being searched, the destination is Alor-Uno. Some are actually found. The flood goes all the way to Umu Amu village, Amebo, Agbedo, Agboke, Uma Burani, Amaikpo Ani, Amaho Ubele, Ndiagu and Umu Amu. Many households have been sacked.”

Government not unaware – Nnamani

James Nnamani was reluctant to respond to questions about his plight. The state government has been sending delegations to the troubled community, but no interventions yet, he stated.

Quoting him, “Government has been sending delegations, but we have not seen any result. They have been snapping and videoing the bad spots, and that’s all. We are not even being assisted to relocate.”

What government needs to do – Engr Ozo

Engr Israel Ozo is a civil engineer. He said the situation could be salvaged in two ways: “Let the state government open the blocked gutter at the point the culvert was switched to Achom. If the blocked area is opened up, the government should then channel the flood towards Obukpa. The road has shoulders to contain the drainage. I advise that a dam be constructed along Egu Obukpa to harvest the waters. Their diverting the channel to Alor-Uno is a structural error.

“The other wing of the channelling can be controlled by building a dam shortly where the channelling stopped. The land is enormous to contain any size of a dam. The water could be used for dry season farming. Otherwise, let the inhabitants relocate to safe areas.”

Enugu State government keeps in view

Engr Gerald Otigi is the Commissioner for Works in Enugu State. When contacted, he said, “Take the pictures of the things and write a letter directly to His Excellency at the Government House. He will minute it to me. That will be the quickest way. Well done for helping the community. Don’t listen to any criticisms; just do it.”

THE WHISTLER did the letter and submitted to His Excellency on 23/10/2024. Entitled: “Freedom of Information Request: Flooding/Erosion Menace At Alor-Uno, Nsukka LGA”, the request asked the governor: “How does your administration plan or is addressing the challenges of natives of Alor-Uno concerning their flood menaces; and whether there were feasibility studies on the after-effects of such flood channelling?” The seven days elapsed, but there is yet any response from the state authorities.

It might imply that the anguish of Alor-Uno natives pertaining to these ecological disasters could still linger.

– This report is with the support of the Civil Media Lab.