The residents of Lakpyana Yusuf Road in Dokodza,? Bida, Niger State might lose their houses and the land they have lived on? for so many years if the gully erosion that threatens? the area continues at its current rate. The erosion which started about 15 years ago, precisely in 1997, has caused serious damages to the residents. Due to the erosion menace, lives and properties have been lost, roads rendered inaccessible and people turned into tenants in their own communities. The flat earth which had provided road, succor and comfort to them has been washed and blown away, the result of which is a deep valley.
The residents have continuously raised alarm over the increasing threat posed by the widening gully erosion whose wreaking impact has intensified unabated. The affected area which is about one third of the total area of Dokodza ward is at the risk of being washed away completely. Worried and disturbed by the effect of the erosion and the dangers posed to lives and properties of the people, an elder in the area, Alhaji Muhammadu Tsadu whose house is the worst hit, lamented that his family has been living in perpetual fear as a greater part of his house is affected by the erosion which made the house unsafe to live in. According to him, “despite all our efforts to save our house we are losing it fast and we have nowhere to go. First, I lost my room to it, and then some other rooms in the house were also consumed by it.
Today, about five rooms in my house are rendered useless because the valley has eaten deep and widened up to where the rooms are.? They can fall off any moment.”
Tsadu explains that several SOS letters have been written to Chairmen of Bida Local Government and other relevant authorities since the beginning of the problem in 1997 but says their efforts and cries all these years have not yielded any positive result. He says he is baffled over the indifference of the authorities concerned to the people’s plight. “Lives, especially of children and properties worth millions of naira have been lost to the gully over the years.
We are hoping on God and appealing to the government to come to our aid before this erosion consumes us all.”?
The deep valley which is fast becoming a dumping ground for all kinds of refuse, Hajiya Atikat Dalhatu, a resident,says “constitutes health hazard particularly to our children aside the risk it poses to their lives.? Its presence here is really dangerous considering the fact that little children roam and play around in the neighborhood”. She urges the government to find a lasting solution to this problem and avert the danger it poses to lives and vehicles.
A resident, Babadoko Mohammed who is visibly angry by the devastating effect of the erosion, blamed the insensitivity of the authorities concerned for not paying prompt attention to the problem over the years.? “Today, what started as a child’s play has become life threatening all due to neglect. We have received visitations from successive Chairmen of Bida Local Government who have served since 1997 to date, House of Assembly members from Bida, Niger state Emergency Management Authority, Ecological and Disaster Management officials, all who came to access the damage”.
“We complained, wrote to the government, had talks with the authorities concerned, but what do we get in return?
Vain pledges and promises that never materialised. Till today, nothing has been done and we never saw those people again,” he added.
On whether the government has done anything to solve the problem, Sulaiman Baba sallah, a student who also resides in the affected area, explains that the news making the round is that the contract concerning the erosion site has been awarded, but to who? We don’t know. According to Babasallah, “ a top ranking official of Niger state Emergency Management Authority during his visit to the site alleged that contract regarding this erosion site has been awarded several times by the? state government without it been executed. We don’t know how true this is, but we are pleading with the government to do something as we are helpless.” Babasallah who said the deep gully which is about 20 feet deep is fast advancing towards their house maintained that if nothing is done to contain the situation? before the next raining season, the erosion? would consumed their? house too as it has done to others.
When leadership?? called at his resident, Abubakar? Saidu whose house is a few meters away from the erosion site said all their efforts to get help from the state and local governments had proved abortive. “Since the beginning of this problem, houses have collapse into this gully. Others are victims today; tomorrow it will be my turn. If urgent attention is not given to this place before the next raining season, more than four houses will go, thereby rendering the people homeless”.?
Saidu attributed the problem of gully erosion to lack of drainage system. He thus appealed to the government to look in to the issue of drainage construction in Bida to avoid possible future occurrence in other areas.
Speaking with leadership, an environmentalist Mallam Abdullahi Faruk expressed worry over a possible landslide in the area if the threat is not tackled immediately.
He explained that owing to the fact that soil erosion is a natural phenomenon, its effects cannot be totally eradicated but it can be scaled down to bearable minimum.? Adequate structures such as drainages, culverts, gutters and canals should be constructed to properly check and regulate the effect of erosion.
For the residents of Lakpyna Yusuf Road, the prospect of losing their homes and even lives to the scourge is scary but real . The current state of the environment on which their houses rest precariously and the possibility that their only assets are gradually drifting towards ruins is such that evokes pity or anger or both. They sure need a “guardian angel” to wipe away their coagulated tears. But from where and whense cometh the “guardian angel”?????
?