TheCable

Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, says the state has become the “erosion capital” of Nigeria. 

He said this on Wednesday while speaking to state house correspondents after a meeting with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Soludo, who said tackling the problem will require a lot of resources, urged the federal government and development partners to support the state.

“The environment is our number one existential threat other than security, and Anambra is the erosion capital of Nigeria,” he said.

“Perhaps, you might know that about 30 percent to 40 percent of our land is under threat of erosion. There’s no other state like Anambra, when it comes to erosion.

“Like I said, while our landmass is shrinking massively due to erosion and so on, it’s far, far beyond the capacity of a state government to deal with.

“Even if you were to sink the entire budget of the state for the next 10 years into dealing with the gully erosion, it will still be like a drop in the ocean.

“This is an area where the state government wishes to partner effectively with the federal government and development partners to deal with that.

“It is a state of emergency, with regards to erosion. And of course, we’re also promoting this concept of responsible citizenship on the part of our people, to be able to take some responsible steps.

“We are providing some regulation — people controlling the runoff water from their homes, building control, trying to tackle these things with early warning signals.

“We’re doing quite a whole lot. We have no choice but to try to do something. But ultimately, to deal with the kind of erosion menace we have in Anambra will require quite very active, massive resource injection by the federal government.”