NEWMAP: Restoring the landscape of degraded areas in South East Nigeria

BY Adebayo Thomas

 The environment is naturally blessed with dynamic resources that include vegetation, waters, soils and animals. However the naturality of the plush vegetation, aquatic lives gets degraded, polluted and depleted courtesy of human activities. However, over the last 2 centuries, one significant dilemma of the natural environment is the sharp destruction, progressively by drought, human activities (via tree felling machines, bulldozers, and sand mining) and very recently the aggressive climatic changes.

Whilst land deterioration and degradation is on the increase across sub-Saharan Africa, managing these trend have become a nightmare to many African governments. In Nigeria after many failed attempts her response via the emergence of Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) could then be described as timely coming when all past efforts have failed to yield the required purpose. NEWMAP sustainable mitigation strategies: a combination of natural and civil works mixed with a total watershed approach may now be a good recipe for like situations across the continent.

Three and half years ago, after project effectiveness, NEWMAP took on 21 erosion sites across the south east in the seven initial states of  Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu and Imo States and it has been a success story all the way.

Nigeria the country: Nigeria has a total land area of 923,773 square kilometres. This vast expanse of land is endowed with abundant and diverse resources, including fishery resources, wildlife, timber, medicinal plants, mineral resources, water, ornamental and food crops.

In order to develop the economy as well as to survive, the populace interacts and exploits the natural resources of the environment. This practice has altered the ecological stability of the environment. The Nigerian environment today is faced with myriads of ecological problems arising from the impacts of human-environment interactions and natural phenomenon. Nigeria’s ecological problems are unique in the sense that different geo-political zones are faced with specific environmental challenges.

In the South East, a major and common ecological problem is gully erosion.

The Project: The initiation of NEWMAP project according to Salisu Dahiru the National Project Coordinator, “was borne out of the necessity to address the multiple and complex challenges stymieing past efforts of governments in addressing the gully erosion menace in the South East. These include weak local participation, absent of land use planning, insufficient attention to livelihood issues among others. This eight-(8) year innovative, multi-sectoral project will finance State-led interventions to prevent and reverse land degradation, initially focusing on gully erosion sites that threaten infrastructure and livelihoods in seven states: Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu and Imo.”

Based on the progress recorded by the initial seven states, in September 2015 additional 7 states; Delta, Gombe, Kogi, Kano, Plateau, Oyo and Sokoto joined the project having met the necessary selection criteria. Presently, the third phase of states that recently joined the project includes; Akwa Ibom, Borno, Katisina, Nasarawa, and Niger, States; thus making a total number of 19 states in the project.

Implementation /success: Several attempts have been made to tackle the menace of gully erosion in these areas to no avail. Speaking to the World Bank supervisory team in November, 2015 Comrade Adams Oshiomole a former Governor of Edo State, Nigeria, said prior to the World Bank’s intervention, the Federal Government had awarded contracts that were not done, while other intervention was not holistic like the current NEWMAP watershed approach.

NEWMAP has achieved considerable success, and community members who are beneficiaries like Chief Okon Nyong Etim of Ikot Ekpo community in Calabar Cross River state will continue to count their blessings, “NEWMAP intervention and approach is a testimonial of the best way to tackling gully erosion. The project did not only restored the degraded land but restored joy to those who lost their houses to erosion in the community by giving them compensations that enabled them to build new houses,” he said.

Currently, civil works/land reclamation activities in the initial 21 gully erosion sites across the seven initial states are at 90% completion, while commencement of activities in additional 34 sites recently approved for intervention  are at advance stages

Compensation has been paid to Project Affected Persons (PAPs) directly affected by the ongoing construction works in the initial 21 sites. The bioremediation/vegetative component of the project which would complement the engineering work and help regenerate the soil in the first 21 gully sites is at 65% – 70% completion.

% IMPLEMENTATION OF INITIAL 21 SITES IN SEVEN (7) OLD NEWMAP STATES.

S/NO	STATE	PROJECT SITE	PERCENTAGE OF WORK DONE (%)	REMARKS
1	ABIA	Amuda AcharaAmuzukwu Umuezeukwu	21.055.0 96.0	Amuda Achara is low due to redesign and contractors low capacity.
2.	ANAMBRA	AmachallaOmagba Onitsha St Thomas Aquinas/Neroz Plaza Umudunu Abagana	97.074.0 92.0 56.0
3.	CROSS RIVER	AtakpaEdim Etop Ikot Anwatim Ikot Ekpo Nyagassan	99.8100.0 93.4 100.0 84.2
4.	EBONYI	Nguzu Edda	78.6
5.	ENUGU	9th Mile cornerAjali Water works	96.0100.0
6.	EDO	AuchiEkehuan Queen Ede	80.045.0 93.0	Ekehuan is 45% compared to the recent request for additional works
7	IMO	Eziala ObiziIyiuzo Ihioma Umueshi	99.599.8 94.6

LIST OF NEWMAP SITES UNDER DESIGN/REVIEW

S/NO	STATE	PROJECT NAME	STATUS WITH FQCEDF	COMMENTS
1	ABIA	UmuogeleUmuda Isingu/Umuagu Ibeku Aba flood (Four ponds)	CompletedCompleted Review on going.	Cleared by the BankCleared by the Bank
2	ANAMBRA	Abidi VillageEnugu Ukwu Ugama Obosi Ire Obosi Ndiagu Ikenga Nnnewichi Nkpor Fly over Ojoto Nankah Okoh	CompletedCompleted Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed	All Eight (8) sites have been cleared by the Bank.           Review on going by the Bank.
3	CROSS RIVER	Ikot NkebreLemna Agric Road Igaba Ikot Uduak Okuku	CompletedCompleted Cost option cleared Review ongoing Cost Option cleared	Ikot Nkebra and Lemna Agric cleared by the Bank. With major comments to be addressed by the SPMU.
4	EBONYI	Ebia RiverOdunukwe Nkaliki Iyiudele River Iyiukwu Abakaliki Asu Umunaga Oferekpe Abakaliki Old water works	CompletedCompleted Completed Completed Review Ongoing Review Ongoing Review Ongoing	All Four (4) completed have been cleared by the Bank.
5	EDO	GapionaIbore Esan Ewu Esan New Urora Fugar Agenebode Ambrose Alli Uni Edo College Ogiso Osunde Emu Ohuda Igbe Quarters	CompletedCompleted Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed	All the ten sites cleared by the Bank. Some with minor issues to address by the SPMU.
6	ENUGU	Agbaja NgwoEnugu Nwgo (4 fingers) Umuavulu-Abor Odi Ozalla Imilike Etiti Ngene Owelle Onuiyi	CompletedCompleted Completed Completed Cost option and feasibility studies cleared.	All four cleared by the Bank with minor comments to be addressed by the SPMU.
7	IMO	UruallaUmueze Obazu Ibeafor	CompletedCompleted Completed	Uruala and Obazu sites have been cleared by the Bank.Urualla is at the bidding stage.
8.	Akwa Ibom	Anua RavineEtim Umana St Luke’s Hospital	CompletedCompleted Review on going	Anua Ravine and Etim Umana are under review with the Bank.