-Calls For Govt. Rescue
A renowned professor of Public Relations at the Imo State University, Owerri, Prof. B.J.C Anyanwu, has lamented on the devastating gully at Nkwo-Mbaa, Ugiri, which was created by a persisted erosion that was carelessly neglected by the authorities.
This lamentation was made in a lecture he delivered recently at the palace of the traditional ruler of Umuneke- Ugiri, HRM Eze Joseph Kelechi Ike, the Ekeshi Mgbaja IV, during the celebration of his 2024 New yam festival.
The theme of his lecture was: Iriji as an Instrument of Unification and Community Development. The lecturer who is also the son of the Ugiri Ancient Community, stated that the developmental achievements and defects of a particular community could be brought to bear through a celebration like new yam festival of a traditional ruler or a community for people’s evaluation, stating that such necessitated the presentation of the issue of a gully threat to the lives of the people.
This created gully threat was fully elaborated and exposed in an interview with some newsmen by Prof. Anyanwu, who maintained that the observed threat could extend to the surrounding residential, church and school buildings if no remedy was timely provided by the state government.
He re-emphasized that the road portion at Nkwo-Mbaa with such gully threat experience must be seen by the government as very important, stressing its connection between Isiala Mbano and Amaraku, adding that its continuous neglect by both the Local and State governments must be very ‘catastrophic’ and would lead to total cut off of people’s economic activities and livelihood.
The don said that he was surprised that both the Isiala Mbano LGA chairman and state government officials have been making use of same road without caring to provide a solution to it over time.
On the position of Isiala Mbano House of Assembly representative on the issue, the scholar confirmed that the Ugiri Ancient Community had written severally to him without any serious response and result therefom, asserting that the state could provide a permanent solution to the ongoing erosion threat through attraction of ecological fund from the federal government.
Prof. Anyanwu also admitted that an effort had previously been made to reach their Federal House Representative, Hon. Princess Miriam Onuoha, on same issue without any yielded positive result.
He submitted that the gully started gradually to eat up the affected portion, but became more devasting this year, 2024, after some persons uprooted many trees earlier planted within the environment to stabilize the surrounding soil, giving very flimsy reasons for their action.
