It’s no longer news that both Nanka and Oko communities in Orumba North local government area of Anambra state share common environmental problems:  gully erosion and landslide.  But the news is the seeming rift between the House of Representatives Committee on Environment and Rhino Maritime Services and Construction Limited, the   company that won the contract to put the gully erosion menace in Nanka at bay.

Last week the committee led by Hon. Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, who incidentally hails from Anambra state, visited the Nanka erosion site to perform its oversight function, alongside the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Mailafia.

 After touring the project site, the Ekwunife-led committee ordered the management of the British/Nigerian owned company to bring before the committee in Abuja, the federal capital territory, the company’s profile to enable it ascertain whether the committee is qualified in the first place to handle the project.

 The House committee was apparently not satisfied with both the pace as well as the quality of work done by Rhino, hence its invitation to the company to appear before it.  A member of the House committee reportedly said that the company was insensitive to the plight of the people of the affected community.

Nevertheless, it would appear that the committee is crying more than the bereaved.  Some residents of Nanka say the company has done a good job, adding that Nanka is better off than Oko, the neighbouring community which has a long history of gully erosion as well as landslide.   Oko is the home town of elder statesman and the country’s former vice president, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme.

Elder Caleb Ezeokeke, a community leader in Oko, whose house is currently threatened by gully erosion said:  “I have never seen a thing like this all my life.  Daily, we live in fear of losing our houses, though we have handed our fate in the hands of God.

 “As you look at this my house, I have counted it out as one of my belongings because it can cave in any day. We no longer sleep here. You are lucky to  have met  me because I just came to pick something from this house. We are calling on government to come to our aid because this erosion problem is beyond us.”

Another resident, Mrs Adaeze Okeke, had long abandoned her house because of the fear of possible landslide in the area of the town she lives. She is presently squatting with a relative who lives in a relatively safer part of the town.  Her eight children have left the troubled town of Oko to far-flung areas that have no history of gully erosion. “I call all my children on phone every morning to ascertain their state of health”, she said.

She continued:  “Government should please come to our aid.  Our brothers in Nanka are now better than us because the construction company (Rhino) has succeeded in taming the erosion in the area. We urge government to include Oko in its contract list and save us from the impending disaster which is about to happen,” Mrs Okeke lamented.

But unknown to her, the House of Representatives Committee on Environment that inspected the work on Nanka gully erosion site  left dissatisfied with the pace and quality of work being carried out by this same company.

Ironically, some members of the Nanka community are grateful to Rhino,  “waging a relentless war” against the  gully erosion menace in the area” Mr  Ejikeme Arinze, who hails from Isiakpuenu Ifite Nanka, thanked the federal government for awarding the contract for the construction of a three -pronged job at the Nanka erosion site which he listed as road, drainage and gully. He commended Rhino for the job it has done so far, particularly the construction of a drainage system from Isiakpuenu to Amakor village.

“Erosion had cut off the link road to these two communities and when Rhino came last year and started work on the gully, the company could not go far because as work was ongoing on the Nanka axis of the erosion site, water started pouring out from a broken drainage from both Nanka and Oko axis of the project, wiping out all the efforts made so far by the company to check the gully erosion.

“Since the Oko part of the gully site was not included in the contract awarded to Rhino, the company found it difficult to stop the water flow from the broken drainage in Oko.   So the best they did was to leave the gully and concentrate on constructing a drainage channel and a road to allow for free flow of water.

“Right now, the company has been able to complete the construction of the road linking Isiakpuenu to Amakor, as well as the provision of a good drainage system on that road.    So, we are no longer afraid of a possible landslide, as water no longer flows into the gully from our end.

“But since water still flows in from Oko, the people now are the ones at risk. My plea to the federal government is that it should also award the   Oko  gully erosion contract to the same company so that the job can be done simultaneously,” Arinze pleaded.

An indigene of Oko community who simply gave his name as Uzochukwu regretted that some members of the community had lost their houses, property and farm land to landslide.   He said that each time landslide occurred in the area, “houses and property are buried under the ground.”  He said that residents, whose houses are close to the landslide-prone areas, have relocated to neighbouring communities.

 LEADERSHIP gathered that Rhino is jointly owned by Nigerian/British citizens.   A source close to the company said it had satisfactorily executed several high profile contracts in Europe, adding that the contract for the control of gully erosion in Nanka is insignificant when compared to the jobs done by the company in other parts of the world.  The source further said that the federal government had been tardy in the release of funds for the prompt execution of the project;

 During a recent meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and political leaders from the South-East zone, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,  said  that the federal government was ready to disburse N60 billion credit facility obtained from the World Bank to check erosion menace in the zone.

 This money is beside the ecological fund as well as the budgetary allocation to the ministry of environment to tackle environmental degradation. The implication is that availability of funds is not too much of a problem to the fight against gully erosion/landslide.

There is a groundswell of opinion that most often, money budgeted for the control of erosion and other environmental problems in the country, end in private pockets.

For instance, a former senior government official in one of the five South-East states allegedly converted about N1billion ecological fund meant for his state to his private use and nothing happened.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the federal government had in the past, provided huge sums of money to phony contractors to tackle non-existing erosion sites in some states.

  In fact, in 2009, members of the House of Representatives committee on environment who came on oversight function to Imo and Ebonyi states complained that they couldn’t locate some erosion sites in those two states.

Perhaps, beyond ascertaining whether Rhino has the technical capacity to handle the Nanka erosion control project, the Ekwunife-led committee would probably try to find out the value of the contract; the sum of money so far released by the relevant ministry  and how much has actually been paid to the company.

A source close to Rhino said the company was not bothered by the invitation from the House committee  on environment, adding that the company expects the federal government to keep to its part of the bargain.